


Journey to Remnant

by Toomuchtime88



Category: RWBY, 갓 오브 하이 스쿨 | The God of High School
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, F/M, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 140,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26084755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toomuchtime88/pseuds/Toomuchtime88
Summary: "Mori… Please…Stay Alive…And don't hate people… too much." Were the last words Jin Mori heard from his Grandfather. Now stripped of his power, the former Monkey King finds himself stranded on a different world with a shattered moon. Which to be clear, was not his fault...probably.
Comments: 81
Kudos: 155





	1. Twin Impacts

* * *

* * *

There were a lot of things in Ozpin's life that has caused him headaches. For example, Port constantly bringing in Grimm, and boring the students to death with his stories.

Glynda, getting on him for all that missed paperwork that seemed to be growing bigger on his desk.

The Vale Council being a constant mess of politics that cannot get shit done.

Ironwood doing his best to make Atlas the most hated nation in Remnant.

Qrow being…Qrow.

His ex-wife wanting to take over the world.

And the biggest headache of all, the two douchebags Gods that abandoned Remnant, cursed Ozpin with his immortal existence, and were the reason why said megalomaniac ex was the way she was.

This current headache ranked higher than Ironwood, but lower than the ex.

"Last night a massive unknown Object crashed into the middle of the sea between Vale and Atlas. Due to the impact of this object, all coast towns in the north of Vale have been evacuated due to Tsunami warnings. As experts try to discover what object hit the sea and caused this much chaos we will report as soon as they find out. This is Lisa Lavendar signing out."

"Do you think the Queen is behind this Ozpin?" The voice next to him asked.

Ozpin sighed while turning off the tv, turned toward to the source of the voice, it was his deputy headmistress, Glynda Goodwitch.

"I am not sure; she usually isn't this...extravagant." the tired headmaster responded.

"Should we send a hunter to check out what it was?" was the deputy headmistresses' response.

"Don't worry, as soon as that impact hit last night, I called a huntsman to check it out" Ozpin replied.

"And who was that?" Glynda asked.

"It was a Huntsman that is very trusted in our circle" he replied.

"You sent Qrow."

"He is an excellent Huntsman despite his…tendencies Glynda"

Just as the irritated woman was going to snap back, Ozpin's Scroll started to ring. Happy to get out of this conversation, Ozpin opens his scroll to see the subject of their conversation calling.

"Ah Qrow, I see you are calling, have you found what caused the massive panic on the coasts?" the Headmaster asks.

"I have Ozpin." the grizzled veteran answers "and I don't think you will believe what it is."

"Come now Qrow, I have seen many things in my lives, there is nothing that can surprise me"

"Well its…it's a giant stone pillar" Qrow stammers. "And I mean huge, bigger than an Atlesian ship"

"A giant…stone…pillar." Ozpin slowly repeats. "Qrow, tell me on a scale 5-10, how drunk are you?"

"Isn't the saying 1-10." the Huntsman responded back

"We both know that you are never below a 5."

Somehow this headache seemed to be getting pretty close to ex-wife territory.

What Ozpin didn't know however, was that while all of Remnant were wondering about the huge crash that happened last night, a smaller crash on a small island went unnoticed.

* * *

**The Night Before**

"Mori… Please…Stay Alive…And don't hate people… too much."

Jin Mori's Grandfathers last words echoed throughout his head as he went tumbling through the sky. At that moment though, all he could feel was hate.

"I'll TEAR YOU TO SHREDS. JUST WAIT PARK MUBONG." Mori screamed burning across the sky like a shooting star.

Where did it all go wrong? The Gods were beaten and Ragnarök had ended. True there was that little scuffle with R, and that white-haired bastard from Nox got away. But it felt like Mori had finally gotten his happy ending. He was finally back on earth after being stuck in the God Realm for months, and to his relief his close friend Han Daewi not only survived the final battle but had gotten quite a huge power up as well.

Those future spars were really going to be quite fun. Though, Earth probably would not have been the best place for the battlefield. As Ragnarök clearly showed when God-like beings fight, the geography… well… changes. A new canyon over there, a mountain missing, hell Mori was fairly certain his fight with Satan took a big chunk out of South Korea.

Either way, he was reunited with his friends, he once again proved he was the strongest under the heavens and best of all he finally got his Grandpa back! Everything was looking great!

So where did it all go wrong?

"HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY GRANDFATHER!"

Continuing to curse that back-stabber Mubong, all Mori could think about was his grandfather being stabbed right through the chest by one hand and in the traitor's other hand the Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail was the only reliable weapon that humanity had against the Gods. It had the power to completely seal a Gods power, and deteriorate them into nothing. And that bastard Mubong pointed it right at him! Mori was certain he should have been destroyed but, his Grandpa…his Grandpa with his last breath was able to save him from the Grails power.

As Mori finally hit the ground with a thud all he could think of was his failures. He once again failed to protect those that mattered to him. As Sun Wu-Kong, the Monkey King, he failed to protect his teacher, Xuanzang, as Jin Mori he failed to protect his Grandfather, Jin-Taejin.

"MY STRENGTH I CAN'T CONTROL IT. IT'S…IT'S LEAVING ME. IS…is…the grail still affecting me?"

Mori could feel his consciousness start to fade, as his powers went with it.

"I…I can't do this anymore, lets… just disappear like this…"

and with that everything went to black.

"Hello, Helllloooo."

After what seemed like an eternity, a voice chimed through the darkness and Mori opened his eyes

"Oh, thank goodness you're alive I wasn't quite sure what I would've done if you were dead."

As the former Monkey King started to regain his senses, he was able to locate the voice. It was…a small girl…with a red hood and dark red hair… with silver eyes…and also… WAS THAT A GIANT SCYTHE?

* * *

"ANNND THERE!"

With that last adjustment Ruby Rose had finally completed her maintenance on her precious partner Crescent Rose. Admiring every curve present, Ruby could not help but feel proud of the masterpiece in her hand. She had worked hard on perfecting her best friend… and no it was not weird that a scythe was her best friend. As she continued to admire the modern marvel in her hand her scroll suddenly started to ring.

"RUBY!" an angry voice on the other end yelled. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Oh, sorry Dad" the red head quickly stammered. "I was just fixing up Crescent Rose and doing a quick cleaning."

"QUICK!?" Ruby winced from her Dad's angry voice "Ruby when you told me you were going to go do maintenance on your weapon it was after school ended at 4. Do you know what time it is right now?"

"Uhm a little after 4." Ruby said hoping that it was not too late.

"Sure, a little after 4." Her father sarcastically replied. "If the amount of your little is the same little as your Uncle Qrow whenever he says, 'Just a little more.' You would be right that it is a 'little' after four."

Oh biscuits, it was really late wasn't it.

"Ok Dad." Ruby responded, "I'm on my way home right now."

"Be safe honey" her dad responded back face suddenly turning serious "and what do we do if we meet strange men that say they have candy in their van"

"Dad I'm 15 not 5." she deadpanned.

"Oh, you're right… replace candy with cookies." he responded.

"Daaadddd" she whined.

"Ruby" was the only thing he said.

"I say no." Ruby finally broke.

"And?" was all she got as a response.

"I try to get away as far possible." was her response back.

"And if he tries to grab you?" he responded back.

"Dad, do we really need to do this part?" she snapped.

"Of course we do, it's the most important part." he retorted.

"I use the sharp edge of Crescent Rose in between the legs" she sighed.

"Atta girl, I taught you well." her dad beamed. "Now get back home quickly, I got a blender from my mother that I'm itching to try out before Qrow gets his hands on it."

Ruby groaned as she put her scroll down, making her way home. She loved her dad she really did, but… Uggghh it had been so frustrating that he kept on treating her like a child.

She was going to be a huntress one day, a protector of the innocent! a hero of the people!

Was what she kept on telling herself. She still had a long road ahead of becoming a Huntress. It was only recently that Ruby had finally started to not be garbage at combat and she still needed to wait two more years to even get into a Huntsman school like Beacon.

TWO MORE YEARS. The wait would not be so bad, except her older sister Yang was going to Beacon this year and Ruby was going to be left behind for two more years at Signal.

"I will be a Huntress." Ruby said out loud to no one in particular.

As she stared back at the night sky, her silver eyes caught something soaring through it.

_"Is…Is…that a Shooting star?"_

As Ruby frantically started to think of what to wish for there was only one thought that came into her mind. No, it wasn't endless cookies or that new silencer for Crescent Rose.

"I wish to be a hero that saves everyone" she fervently prayed, "Just like Mom."

As Ruby continued to stare at the shooting star she started realizing something… Wasn't it getting awfully close? She soon let out a panic yelp as the shooting star crashed and exploded right into the woods ahead of her.

 _"I know dad said to come home as quick as possible"_ Ruby thought to herself _"But I got to check this out."_

Using her Semblance, the Scythe wielder leapt quickly through the forest. As she approached the crash site, she sees a small stone pillar where ground zero was. As she gets closer to the pillar Ruby noticed that there seemed to be something leaning against that pillar. It… appeared to be a boy? Looking around her age?

Putting two and two together Ruby realized that the poor boy must have gotten hit by that shooting star?... Pillar? And since she was going to be an awesome hero she quickly went to his rescue.

Or she would have, except for the three Beowolves quickly approaching the unconscious youth.

Instincts on high alert, Ruby quickly fired one dust round in the head of one Beowolf. Totally nailing it.

The second one she closes the distance with her semblance and brings her blade down onto the beast of darkness. Two down one to go.

As the third one approaches behind her, Ruby fires a dust shot with Crescent Rose, using the momentum of the shot she turns around quickly and decapitates the last monster. As Ruby watches the corpses of the beasts start to dissipate, she thinks to herself that all that hard work training with Uncle Qrow seemed to be paying off. She cannot help but be impressed by her own handiwork. Until she realized why she was fighting.

 _"Oof save the boy, I completely forgot about the boy"_ Ruby mentally berates herself as she headed to the still youth.

As she takes a better look at him, the first thing she noticed is that he had spiky brown hair. So spiky, in fact, he looked like a main character from one of those Mistral Cartoons. The second thing she noticed is that his clothes are a complete wreck. Outside of a sleeping mask on the top of his head, that was surprisingly intact, the rest of his clothes were wrecked and he didn't have much in the way of a shirt.

And that led to the third observation, his body was covered in wounds and scars. Panicking Ruby starts to wonder what to do, she didn't have anything for first aid, so she decided to do what she does best. Winging it and hoping he wasn't dead.

"Hello, Helllloooo."

Doof, what was she thinking?

If he were dead, he obviously wouldn't answer.

Suddenly the boy started to stir and open his eyes. They were brown? With crosses in them?

"Oh, thank goodness you're alive I wasn't quite sure what I would've done if you were dead."

Doof, why would she say that. That's like the worst thing she could say to someone that was clearly injured.

The boy looked around, widened his eyes for a second and goes back unconscious.

 _"Well that could've gone better."_ She deadpans to herself.

Now the problem became how to move the clearly alive youth to somewhere less dangerous.

"Well time to do what I always do whenever I need bailing out." she muses to herself as she pulls out her scroll.

"YANNGGGG, I need your help, I have a boy problem."

Hearing her sister yell over the scroll she'll castrate that bastard made Ruby realize, maybe she could've worded that better.

* * *

**Betas:**

**Woof28**


	2. Weird Guest

**Chapter 2. Weird Guest**

* * *

When Yang got a call from her sister that she had a problem with a boy, she was initially expecting she would be ending a family line. When she got to where her Sister was, that did not seem like that was going to be the case. 

She also did not expect to see a big pillar and an unconscious kid around her age, but hanging out with her Uncle Qrow and dad you get used to weird stuff growing up.

Getting the unconscious boy home was easy, just grab the surprisingly built and heavy kid on one side and get her sister to carry the other side, get back home, dump him on the guest room, give him some of Uncle Qrows clothes that got left behind, and get help for his injuries.

The hard part came the next morning. The source, the blonde man with terrible fashion known as her father.

"So Ruby, let me get this right, when I told you to get home as soon as possible instead of doing that, you decide to check out a crash site, fight some Beowolves, and bring home an unconscious kid who needed medical attention." Her dad asked flatly.

"Yuuup" was all the response her sister gave.

"Ok Ruby, I'm not going to be mad about you not coming home as soon as possible, because it sounds like your little investigation did save someone's life and for that I am proud of you." Her dad started. "But of all the options you had, why would you first of all not call me, a professional huntsman, who is used to treating grievous injuries and instead call your sister who is not as well trained, and secondly when said sister got there, instead of calling for emergency services and getting him to a hospital, you decide to bring a random stranger into the house and dump him in the guest room."

You know now that Yang thought about it, why did they bring him into their home? When you find someone unconscious outside, a person's first reaction isn't usually to bring him home. No, you usually just call for an ambulance. It's not like Patch was in the middle of nowhere; hell, the hospital around here was apparently one of the best in Vale, as boys that got too frisky with her can attest to.

"I'm sorry Dad" Ruby's response interrupted Yang's train of thought. "I was just panicking and wasn't thinking straight, I was just thinking I needed to get him somewhere safe, and home was the first thing I could think off."

"You heard her Dad; she was just concerned about the poor kid." as Yang decided she probably should also say something. "And besides, we weren't exactly sure if there were anymore Grimm outside and we were thinking it could have been dangerous if we stayed there any longer."

"Hmm… you have a point there" as their old man was thinking. "Ok, I won't be mad anymore."

Well looks like that incident was done with.

"How is he doing, is he ok?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"Honestly looking over his injuries, it's a miracle the kids alive. I applied some basic first aid and based on what I've seen he should live, though, I'm not sure when he will wake up, I'll call the hospital right now and they should be able to take care of him and hopefully they will be able to ID him and contact his family."

Looks like the worst had been avoided, Yang had to admit though, if Ruby's story was right and that kid got hit by a pillar that size, the fact that he was still alive means he must be pretty tough. That was pretty impressive.

"Can we see him right now?" Her sister concernedly asked.

"Yeah we want to see him for ourselves that he's ok before you send him off." Yang also chipped in.

"Sure, you can watch over him while I call the hospital." 

"C'mon Zwei, lets go check our guest out." Ruby responded, grabbing the family dog Zwei and quickly zipped to the guest room.

"Ruby wait up" Yang called out, as she followed her sister to their unconscious guest.

Just as she gets to the room, she heard a panicked, Zwei suddenly started to bark, and her sister let out a panicked "NO ZWEI!".

Hearing this Yang quickly slammed open the door and was greeted to what could be described as one of the strangest things in her life and coming from her that means something.

Ruby was freaking out, that was normal, she freaks out over a lot of stuff.

Zwei was growling at their guest. That wasn't that weird, Zwei was conditioned by Dad to be aggressive to boys around their age that get close to them.

No, the weird thing was that the boy who should not only still be unconscious, but also be barely hanging on to his life seemed to be in good health.

How could she tell that he seemed to be ok?

Well, he was on all fours, on top of the bed, hissing at Zwei.

That's right… hissing… at the family dog.

"Uh Dad, I don't think you need to call the hospital anymore!"

* * *

Mori could say that the events after waking up was…interesting. It started when the first things his eyes opened too was the sight of pure evil.

"Gahh!" Was his immediate response.

Quickly getting on all fours Mori assumed a defense position hissing at the barbaric beast (It's just a corgi). As it in return started barking at him.

"NO ZWEI!"

Seemed to be the reaction of what he can assumed to be the master of that damn mutt. It was the silver eyed girl with the giant scythe that called out to him after he hit the ground and lost consciousness.

Thankfully, the situation didn't escalate that bad, a blonde girl that seemed well developed, suddenly burst into the room, yelling something about a hospital and after a while of trying calm both parties down, they were able to get the dog in his kennel and Mori to start acting like a human again.

"I'm soooo sorry about him, he's usually kind and friendly." said the silvered eye girl.

"So…you don't like Dogs." Said the blonde girl next to her.

No, no he did not, as he nodded in agreement with the blonde's statement. Mori never got along with dogs. He hated dogs, they hated him. It was a mutual respect of hate built on hate.

"Putting that incident behind us." A blonde man that came in later started to say. Mori assumed that he was the blonde girl's father. "Are you ok? You were pretty hurt last night after getting by hit a pillar."

Hit by a pillar? What was he talking about he did not get hit by a pillar…he hit the ground.

"What happened?" he asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Oh, I was on my way back home from Signal when I found you lying on the ground after a shooting pillar hit you in the middle of Patch forest, you were about to be attacked by some Grimm, but me and Crescent Rose were able to save you. My name is Ruby by the way, Ruby Rose, What's your name?"

That girl named Ruby just threw a lot of terms that he didn't understand at him. Signal? Patch? Grimm? Crescent Rose? It didn't help that she was talking so, so fast. But thankfully, he could answer that last part.

"Mori, my name is Jin Mori."

"Huh, weird name, well nice to meet you Jin." Ruby responded.

Huh, it looked like wherever he was, it went given name then family name. Looks like he wasn't in Korea anymore, was he in America? France? England? What was that place in the south of the Pacific called again, Australia? Where else had the first name then last name. Deciding to cut that thought off before he went to deep in that rabbit-hole Mori decided to correct the girl.

"No, sorry, for me it goes family name than given name. My given name is Mori."

"Huh, that's weird, you must be from pretty far away, why is it like that?" The blonde girl next to Ruby asked

Mori could only shrug.

"Well nice to meet you Mori, the name is Yang Xiao-Long, I'm Ruby's sister and the guy with the khakis over there is our dad, Taiyang Xiao-Long." As Yang introduced herself and her father.

Mori was surprised, he saw that these people seemed to be close, he just wasn't expecting them to all be family, and why did two of them share the same last name while the other one was completely different, and where was the mother?... Oh well, it was none of his business. There were more important things to focus on.

"Nice to meet you Yang, Taiyang. And thank you Ruby for saving me from…what were those called again, Grimm?"

Apparently, that question caused the family in front of him to stare at him strange.

"You don't know what Grimm are?" Ruby said slowly. "Oh my God! You have amnesia!"

What, no he does not. He clearly told her his name and how it was different than theirs. Before he could correct the girl, her sister spoke up.

"Well duh Ruby, he got hit by a pillar, even though he's up, he obviously wouldn't be completely all right."

Mori had suddenly realized, based on their reactions to his question, that if he tried to correct them, it may cause problems. So, avoiding the headache he decided to just go with it.

"Yeah…I guess so…can you help fill me in on things I'm missing?"

And with that a bunch of new info was dumped on him. Apparently, Grimm were beasts of darkness that hunted humans. The only thing humanity had to defend themselves were through people called huntsman who used a power called aura and something called semblances.

After they explained to him what aura and semblances were, they talked about how they lived in a place called Patch which was in a country called Vale, which was also a nearby city, and that was located in a place called Remnant. When he asked who Crescent Rose was, apparently that was the name of the giant scythe the red-haired girl wielded.

After all that was explained, Ruby suddenly went into a panic and said something about school, running through the door. Taiyang panicked as well and ran out. Then Yang screamed at them to wait for her. Leaving Mori all alone… in their house. Yes, that was right, they left a complete stranger unattended in their own home.

They were very trusting.

It had been several hours since he had woken up, Mori was digesting the information he was given, he arrived at a conclusion.

The Holy Grail must have sent him to a different world from Earth called Remnant. He had been to different worlds, so another world with humans wasn't completely infeasible to him. He did just spend months fighting in the God Realm. Hell, his original life as Sun Wu-Kong had him live in the Sage Realm. Not only were those places in different worlds, they were in different realities.

Another thing he came to conclude was that in this world, powers and supernatural were normal, but that came at the cost of general peace.

People here had to constantly live in fear of these Grimm. He wondered how strong these beings on this world were, Mori was confident in his prime he could wipe out all the threats and give this world relief. But there was that caveat wasn't there. In his prime.

Right now, Mori was not in his prime, the exact opposite of it to be exact. He had never felt this bad before in his life.

His body was a complete mess. Mori initially thought it was because of the Holy Grails power, but… thinking about it clearly now, it also could be the backlash of a certain technique.

**BongChim Nah Style: Limiter Removal.**

Using this technique, one releases the bodies limit and multiplies their strength by a desired amount. The backlash usually sucks and it hurts for a while, but if you use it normally, one should be fine. Key word; normally. In his recent fight with one of the strongest Gods, 666 Satan, Mori had to give it his all to defeat him. That included using **Limiter Removal** to get stronger. Multiplying by 2 or 3 times is usually safe especially for his body, the thing is Mori didn't release by 2 or 3, try more like by 250000. Yeah…

Mori concluded a combination of the backlash of abusing that technique and the Holy Grail is most likely why the former Monkey King was in his current state. So, trying to figure out the consequences of those actions, Mori decided to test what powers he has left. He headed out to the backyard of the Xiao-Long Rose home and he tried to first summon his cloud Kinto-un.

No Response.

Dammit.

Next, he tried summoning his Armor Suits.

No luck, it didn't appear.

Hoping to not go 0 for, 3 Mori summoned his gourd. It appears but…It doesn't look like it will be of use any time soon. Completely wrecked from his fight with the Gods, the Gourd was in a completely unusable condition.

"Well…one last thing" Mori says to himself as he calls off the gourd.

He attempted to call his signature Weapon Ruyi Jingu Bang. Thankfully, that comes to him.

" _This must be the pillar they were thinking hit me."_ Mori thinks to himself as he takes a good look over his trusted weapon. _"Wait is it broken in half?!"_

What happened to it?! Ruyi Jingu Bang was supposed to be made of one of the densest materials in the universe, and it was broken half. Then Mori remembered what happened.

" _Oh yeah Satan broke that as well."_ As Mori continued to the remember the epic fight _"That bastard hit harder than a planet."_ And Mori knew what getting hit by a planet felt like.

With that, Mori tried to summon the other half of Ruyi Jingu. This one had no response. With an exasperated sigh Mori decides to just shrink the half of the famed weapon he had and put it in his ear.

Just as he puts it in his ear the front door is slammed opened and a voice calls out.

"Mori I'm back! Wait, Mori? Where are you?"

Ah, Ruby was back. Mori decided to quickly call for her before the poor girl started panicking.

"I'm outside in the backyard!" He yelled.

"Oh, Mori there you are. Sorry for leaving you all alone." She said as popped through the back door.

"That's no problem Ruby." Mori responded. "Though, was it a good idea to leave me alone with all your stuff. You know I could've just stolen everything."

Ruby started to pale.

"You didn't take my comic books or eat my stash of cookies, did you?" she asked worryingly.

"No Ruby, that was hypothetical." Mori responded as he gave the girl a weird look.

"Good" The red head sighed in relief. "But no, I was more worried about you and how'd you cope after being left on your own."

"Oh." That seemed surprising to Mori, he barely had met her, yet she worried about him that much. "Thank you."

"No problem, by the way Dad, Yang and I were deciding what we should do with you."

"Speaking of which, where are they?" Mori curiously asked.

"Oh, they are just checking out the pillar that fell on you." Ruby nonchalantly responds back. "But we decided that tomorrow we are going to take you into Vale and hopefully we can get you reunited with your family."

Family, that hurt Mori's heart, as he once again remembered his Grandpa. The effort tomorrow would be futile, there would not be any family to reunite with even if he were on earth. As he was feeling down, a warm feeling surrounded him.

It was Ruby giving him a hug.

"Uh, Ruby? What are you doing?".

"You looked like you were feeling sad, so I gave you a hug." Was her response as she looked up and let go.

"Do you always give hugs to random strangers?"

"Nooopppe, just ones who need it"

"…Thank you." And Mori really meant that.

"No problem." The girl responded back with a smile.

Just as she said that, a loud noise started to get closer to the house. It was Yang and Taiyang. They were freaking out and screaming something about how the pillar disappeared in front of their eyes.

Woops

"We should go check that out" Ruby says worryingly.

"…Yeah" Was Mori's weak response as he avoided looking in her eyes, he knew that it was his fault.

As they were heading into the house, something caught Mori's eye in the soon to be night sky, and he looked up, noticing the moon. Annnndddd the fact that it was a missing a good chunk of it. Did he do that when he landed here?

"Ruby?"

"Yes, Mori?"

"I'm so sorry for what I did to the moon."

"…Mori, what are you talking about, the Moons been like that forever."

* * *

Ruby was not quite sure of what to think of Jin Mori. The only consistent thing, that he was weird.

Don't get her wrong he was nice and polite, and he actually seemed to be interested as she talked about Crescent Rose! But he was also weird. And coming from Ruby when she calls someone weird, it meant something. She had a scythe as a best friend after all… even though there was nothing wrong with having a scythe for a best friend.

First, were yesterday's events of Mori showing up. Not only did he tank a hit from a celestial object (Which apparently disappeared in front of her sister and Dad's eyes) and was fine the next day with only memory loss, there was also the fact that his name was not traditional on Remnant. Then there was the moment she could feel incredible sadness coming from him when family was mentioned. Finally, there was that strange thing he said about the moon.

Today's events only seemed to accentuate Mori's weirdness. It started this morning as the family plus one boarded the bullhead. While they were sitting down in the bullhead and flying to Vale, Mori was huddled in the corner completely scared. Saying the words "lighter, lighter" the entire ride. Ruby and her family figured that in his past he must've been traumatized by flying and that was his way of coping.

Then there came the fact of when they got to Vale, as they went to the records building, they couldn't find any mention of a Jin Mori. So, figuring that he was probably visiting from a different country, her dad decided to head to the CCT. While they were doing that, Ruby and Yang went to get Mori some new clothes. The only male clothes they had left were Taiyang's. They couldn't give Mori their dad's clothes. Ruby and Yang were pretty sure doing that constituted as a war crime.

After trying and shooting down different suggestions that Ruby and her sister gave, Mori decided on something simple.

A white shirt, blue jeans, and red shoes.

Ruby thought he could do better but, hey, at least it wasn't as bad as her dad's.

His sense of fashion wasn't the weird thing, it was ok, it was what happened after.

"Mori, are you sure that is your name?" Her Dad asked. "I couldn't find a thing about you with the CCT, and any Jin's within record don't have your weird quirk."

"Yes, I am 100 percent sure my name is Jin Mori." The youth replied back.

"Ok well, I hope you don't mind but I'm going to take a sample of your hair and hopefully we can find a DNA match with it." Her Dad replied.

Mori nodded apprehensively.

Ruby looked at Mori. That was another thing that was weird. He was amnesiac but he clearly remembered his own name and its unique quirks, that would imply he does have some memories… but his basic knowledge of Remnant was nonexistent. She had to answer questions that even 4 years old knew.

It was weird, based on what they found, it seemed like Jin Mori didn't exist on Remnant. But…that can't be right…he was right there.

As her Dad left, Yang left as well, saying something about needing to go check something out. When Ruby asked to come with her, Yang said that she was too young to go where she was going. When Mori asked if he should go with her, Yang said it would be better to have someone stay with Ruby. So that led to the current situation of two oddballs with nothing to do.

"So, what should we do?" As Mori finally broke the silence.

"We could go to my favorite dust shop, and look at weapon magazines?" Ruby responded back.

"Ruby, what is dust?"

"You don't know what dust is?" Ruby asked shocked "How could you not kno…w…" Oh right amnesia. "Sorry I forgot." Oof, she made a pun as bad as her sister's.

"It's really no problem." Mori said.

And with that, Ruby went on to explain how dust was essentially the energy of this world and was what powered their weapons and technology. She also had to gush to Mori about her best friend Crescent Rose…Again, not that there was anything wrong with having a scythe for a best friend.

As they went into her favorite dust shop, From Dust til Dawn, they headed to the magazine section, Ruby then started to excitedly point out to Mori all the cool different weapons there were. She was so engrossed in her talk with Mori that she failed to hear unwanted guests enter, and she only noticed them when one interrupted her in the middle of telling Mori about all the upgrades she wanted to do to Crescent Rose.

"Hey, hey you two!" A voice behind them yelled "Hands in the Air."

"Huh?" Ruby said.

It appeared to be a man dressed black… this was a robbery wasn't it. Ohhhh, she was so excited, she was going to foil a robbery.

"I said hands in the air" the man replied

"Are you robbing us?" Ruby wanted to make 100 percent sure that they were being robbed. Mori, however, just complied.

"YES!" The man answered.

That was all the cue Ruby needed. With a quick "Hyah" she kicked the man out of the window and jumped out the window herself. While doing that she activated the release mechanism of Crescent Rose and revealed the weapon to the robbers.

The leader seemed to be an orange haired man smoking a cigar, wearing a white coat and bowler hat. Ruby could tell because of the words he said next.

"Ok…well get her." The leader said.

And with that the fight began. Ruby quickly positioned Crescent Rose on the ground, leveraged herself, and delivered a brutal round house to the first assailant, as the men tried to surround her she quickly decided to fire a shot, spinning around so she could hit all of them at once with enough strength and speed. The last couple of goons she decides to quickly finish off using her speed semblance. As Ruby started looking at her handiwork. She began to think that she forgot something.

"You're worth every penny, you truly are." The cigar smoking man sarcastically clapped. "That was pretty impressive Red, but are you sure your friend is going to be all right.?"

Ohhhh, that's what she forgot.

"Mori!"

Oof, she forgot about him again during a fight. She has got to stop doing that.

Jin Mori looked like he was surrounded by two goons holding weapons. He didn't have anything on him to use as a weapon; however, Ruby couldn't take her eyes of him as he started to settle into a fighting stance. It looked mesmerizing, nothing like the one he did against Zwei. Just as she was sure Mori was going to do something completely awesome, he suddenly hesitated. Why did he hesitate? That hesitation was enough of an opening for the goons to swing their weapons at him.

"Mori No!"

and the sound of something breaking resonated throughout the streets.

Contrary to common sense it wasn't Mori that got broken, no… it was the robbers' own swords.

"What the hell." One of the goons said.

"Why did our weapons break?" The other one asked.

"Who cares, just punch him." The first one responded.

And with that both threw a punch at Mori, as sounds of pain echoed now throughout the streets.

Again, common sense was defied here. Usually when one throws a punch the person receiving it is in pain. That was not the case here.

"Agghh, My hand!"

"What is this kid made of, damn bricks?!" The other one complained.

Both goons were on the ground now, both in incredible pain, grasping their hands.

" _Yup, Jin Mori is weird."_

Ruby's thoughts on Mori are suddenly interrupted with a click.

Oh fiddlesticks, the head honcho got the drop on her, didn't he.

"You know Red." The orange hair man started to say. "Despite how impressive your boyfriend looks over there, you really should be paying more attention to your own surroundings."

Yup, he got the drop on her. As soon as Ruby heard the click for the firing mechanism, she closed her eyes and started to hope it wouldn't hurt too bad. A second later a loud boom occurs however… she isn't in the middle of it. It's barely in front of her.

"Wow kid, you sure got a keeper of a boyfriend." The villain cackled. "Jumped right in front of the fire dust and everything."

Ruby started to feel like she really should correct the thief that Mori wasn't her boyfriend. Her dad didn't like that stuff. But all she could do was look at the smoke with horror.

"MORI!"

A wave of emotions hits Ruby. Her new friend…he sacrificed himself for her… even though she was supposed to be the one to save him…What kind of hero was she?

As Ruby continued to stare at the smoke in despair, the thief continued laughing, until a voice rang out.

"Was that supposed to hurt?"

Ruby's mouth dropped, along with the villain's as the cigar in his mouth also dropped to the ground.

"Wha-what?" Was all the man with the bowler hat could say.

It was Mori standing in the smoke, completely fine except for his new shirt being burnt off. Glaring at the villain with his brown eyes.

"I said…was that supposed to hurt?" the clearly fine Mori repeated.

What was Mori made of? Sure, he survived a pillar crashing on him, but that explosion should've done something to him…right?

"Yes, it was!" The thief angrily shouted. Internally Ruby was agreeing with the criminally.

"Screw this, I'm not dealing with this anymore." as the thief grabbed the dust he already gathered and fled up to the rooftops.

Ruby looks at Mori in wonder, then she turns to the shop keeper.

"We are going to go after him. Will you be ok?" She wanted to make sure the poor man would be fine.

The man nodded in agreement as the scythe wielder then turned towards her still smoking friend.

"I'm fine. Let's go after him." He said

He knew what she was going to say before she said it. Awesome.

As the two got to the top of the roof, a battle seemed to be going on.

A blonde lady fighting a woman in red on a bullhead. Something Ruby had never seen before was that the woman in red was using fire.

Suddenly, the person on the bullhead changed targets and attempted to attack the two youths. Ruby could feel Mori cover her with his arms when an explosion occurs. However, once again, they were unharmed.

This time, it wasn't due to Mori's weirdness. They found themselves in a completely different spot covered in a weird energy. Ruby could only assume that it was the blonde woman's semblance.

She took a better look at their savior and excitedly realized something. The woman was a Huntress! There was only one thing Ruby can do… be a fan girl.

"You're a Huntress" Ruby Squeals. "Can I have your Autograph?"

The look on the Huntresses face however, told Ruby that she probably wasn't going to get that autograph.

Darn.

"Hey, do any of you happen to have a spare shirt? Mine kind of burned off."

" _Mori, now is not the time for that."_

* * *

Taiyang's past two days had been hectic. His daughter Ruby brought home a boy for the first time and he couldn't kick him out. Also, said boy should still be knocked out, but instead the kid woke up quickly and seemed healthy enough to fight with the family dog.

Another thing to add to the stress was when Taiyang went to look at the giant pillar that hit the kid, it suddenly up and disappeared on him while he was checking it out. That was freaky and coming from Taiyang that meant something.

When they tried to find the boy Mori's family, he found that Mori just did not exist in Remnant, anywhere. Taiyang's best guess for that. Mori must have been born somewhere far away where they don't record stuff.

That kid really was quite strange, outside the fact that he apparently he didn't exist, there was also the fast healing time, his interactions with Zwei, and his unique name.

Speaking of the name, why did a kid with amnesia remember his name? The day before when Ruby and Yang concluded that the kid had amnesia, Taiyang was about to correct them that no he didn't, he just gave them his name. But then the kid kept on asking questions that even a person living under a rock could've answered and the thing was Mori's questions were genuine. His basic knowledge of Remnant was just that tragic. The thing was…the kid wasn't an idiot. He was thoughtful with what he said and didn't give off the impression of being that stupid. The only way that was possible was if the kid genuinely lost his memories and only remembered his name.

Either way, the kid was just weird.

The Mori conundrum wasn't Taiyang's biggest problem though. Just as he gave up on finding Mori's family, Taiyang got a call that his daughter Yang beat up an entire club. That was annoying, but knowing his oldest daughters temper, it was not a surprise.

But that wasn't the end of Taiyang's night. The other daughter decided to get into trouble as well. Apparently Ruby and Mori got caught up in a dust robbery with who else, but Roman Torchwick, the famous kingpin of Vale. That also was annoying but knowing Ruby's strong desire to be a hero it also was not a surprise.

Knowing the family's luck these past few days, he wasn't surprised the two met the criminal. The fact that they were still alive was a miracle, but now they were getting questioned at the police station. So, he had to go pick them up.

Sighing as he entered the station, he noticed a familiar face, his old professor.

"Professor Ozpin, what are you doing here?!" The blonde man asked.

"Oh Taiyang, good to see you, how have things been?" His old professor answered

"Things have been crazy; my daughter Ruby found this boy after he got hit by a pillar-" Taiyang started.

"A pillar? Did I hear that right?" The professor interrupted.

"Yeah a pillar, it appeared right on Patch Island and hit this kid and gave him amnesia." Taiyang explained.

"Did you happen to take a closer look at this pillar" Ozpin asked excitedly.

"That's the crazy thing Oz! It suddenly up and disappeared while I was checking it out." Taiyang frantically said, hoping his old professor wouldn't think he was crazy.

"Up and disappeared; interesting, how remarkably interesting." The headmaster murmured to himself.

Taiyang was confused. The professor wasn't looking at him like he was a madman and instead he seemed to be deep thought. After a while Ozpin turned to him and asked a different question.

"And this boy that got hit by said pillar, was his name Mori Jin?"

"He goes by Jin Mori but yes, how did you know?" Taiyang confusedly responds.

"Oh, to answer your first question of why I am here, I just met with him and your daughter Ruby to talk about the robbery incident." Ozpin replied. "After all, Glynda did save them, and I wanted to see the two youths who apparently caused Roman Torchwick of all people to flee."

"Huh." Taiyang suddenly started to get a bad feeling.

"And after meeting them both and being impressed by their remarkable courage, I have decided that I wanted to extend an invitation for them to attend Beacon this year."

Taiyang suddenly wanted to go full Qrow. You never go full Qrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys Toomuchtime88 here. I hope you guys are enjoying the story. I'm interested on your thoughts on it so if you can review I'd love to hear what you say. I wanted to do this story because I am a big God of High School fan. I think there should be more fanfiction of it. The powers are cool and while the story is a slog to read weekly, if you read it in one go the story really is quite riveting. I really like how the author dealt with having an op main character. Either way I am planning on updating this consistently, if for some reason I get bored I'm not going to give up and just let this die I will try my best to find someone that would be interested in taking it. But you should expect updates at least once a week unless I say something.  
> Beta'd  
> Woof 28


	3. Start at Beacon

* * *

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going into Beacon with me this is the best day ever!"

"Pleeaaaase stop."

"But I'm so prrouudd of you!"

"Really Sis, it was nothing."

"What do you mean it was incredible. Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees."

"I don't want to be the bee's knees, ok; I don't want be any kind of knees. I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

As soon as Ruby said that, Mori internally snorted as he huddled in the corner of the airship.

" _Sure, normal girl, normal knees."_ He thought to himself.

The Scythe wielder was anything but, normal. For one she had the after mentioned scythe for a best friend…Not that anything was wrong with that of course.

As Mori continued to listen to the sisters talk, the news started to play. It was about the criminal he and Ruby confronted, apparently, he was quite famous. Mori could tell he was different from other people he had seen in Remnant but to be the kingpin of Vale, what were the odds? Roman Torchwick was his name…Mori would have to keep that in mind.

Soon the story shifted, but Mori couldn't understand a single thing that was being said. White Fang? Faunus? He would once again have to lie to the sisters to figure out what was going on. After the report finished, the Huntress from the robbery appeared. Apparently, she was a professor at the school he was going to. What was her name again? Melinda? Belinda? Glydia?

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch." The recording started.

Ah yes, Glynda was her name. He didn't like her.

As she was giving a speech about something Mori couldn't bother to listen to, he could only think of the events that led him to here.

**Flashback**

"I hope you realize your actions tonight would not be taken lightly young lady." As Goodwitch started to scold Ruby. "You put yourself and others in danger"

"But they started it!" The young girl tried to argue back.

"If it were up to me you would be sent home…with a pat on the back." Ruby's face seemed to brighten at that, Mori was just waiting for what was next. "And a slap on the wrist!" As the Huntress slammed what looked like a riding crop on the table.

Mori put his hand on the shoulder of the distraught girl, giving her a smile to try to cheer her up. Internally though, he had to agree with the strict professional.

Ruby was very reckless. Outside of the fact that she didn't have the situational awareness to notice the thieves coming in. She also tried to start a fight in a place where people can be harmed or taken hostage. Then there was the fact she separated herself against a big group and left Mori to fend on his own.

Don't get him wrong there was no danger for Mori, he would've been fine, but if that was anyone else, they would've been in serious trouble.

Finally, there was the most serious mistake, she got distracted in the middle of a fight and stopped paying attention to her opponent.

Mori wasn't sure how effective aura was but, based on their reactions from him taking that explosions, if he wasn't there to take the hit, she could've been really hurt or worse.

"And You!"

Oh, looks like it was his turn.

"What were you thinking allowing those men to hit you and not even try to fight back!?"

Eh, he was going to use his renewal taekwondo on them, but as he took a better a look at the goons, he figured he didn't need to use his martial arts against opponents of that caliber. That and he didn't want to stress his already weakened body.

That's what he told himself anyways.

"I'm not sure if anyone has ever taught you how to fight, but usually one of the first things they teach is how to dodge." The woman's lecture continued.

Mori couldn't help but feel the irony about her lecturing him how to fight. He'd probably been in more fights than this woman has had days in her life…which he probably should keep to himself, outside of still faking losing his memory, he had a feeling that age was a touchy subject with the woman, and from the look she gave him from his shirt comment earlier, he felt like he was already on thin ice.

"And finally, what in god's name were your thoughts when you decided to take a dust explosion that big. I know you must have a lot of confidence in your semblance, but that was just plain reckless of you."

Eh, he would've been fine, explosions like that were more like an alarm clock for him. Hell, it wasn't even top 100 in explosions he's taken in the past year. Number one would go to the exploding planet.

It was interesting though; she thought his physical abilities was a semblance.

Mori wondered what other kind of abilities semblances had. He'd only seen two in action after all. Ruby's speed and Goodwitch's telekinesis, he also heard about Yang's power up ability, that was a cool one, they all were actually pretty cool.

The lady in the red dress also shot fire; but, something about it seemed off compared to the first two, so he wasn't sure if he should classify it as a semblance.

Semblances seemed like they were kind of like borrowed powers, but better, because you weren't using someone else's power.

"But enough about your two's irresponsibility, someone one would like to talk to you." As she finally finished.

At this Mori couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. Someone wanted to meet with them?

Who?

Suddenly, a man with grey hair wearing black glasses entered the room with a plate of cookies, and Mori's walls immediately went up. This man was dangerous, his instincts warned. The power he was emitting wasn't as much Goodwitch's; but that was only because he was hiding it. If he had the skill to hide his strength than he was someone to watch out for.

"Ruby Rose… you…have silver eyes." The man started.

Silver eyes? What did he mean by that? Were those eyes special? Now that Mori thought about it, when he was wandering about with Ruby and Yang today, he didn't notice anyone else having silver eyes.

"And Mori Jin…those were…quite the feats of endurance you displayed." As the man turned towards Mori.

Mori was about to correct him about his name; but then decided, nah, it wasn't worth the effort anymore.

"So, where did you learn how to do this" said the man as he turned back to Ruby, showing a video of Ruby's recent escapade.

"Uhm, Signal Academy." Ruby timidly replied.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" The man asked.

Now that the man said that, Mori couldn't help but think who in their right mind would think it was alright to give a 15-year-old girl the fire power of a weapon like Crescent Rose.

"Well, one teacher in particular" The girl stammered back.

"I see." The man says as he sets the plates of cookies on the interrogation table.

Ruby hesitantly grabs one, then eats it and then starts to woof down the plate. Mori was going to grab one himself. But… looking at the way the girl was devouring the cookies…he decided it wasn't worth losing a hand.

"It's just that, I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before."

Ruby really was quite skilled with a scythe; the only human Mori had seen that was better was Judge Q, the green haired glasses judge from the God of High School competition.

"A dusty old crow." The man finishes.

"Mhmm, thhm mhm unlhm Qrhmm."

Ruby, please don't talk with your mouth full.

"Eh, sorry, that's my Uncle Qrow." She said finally clearing her mouth.

Oh, so that's who wasn't in their right mind. Based off the family's initial stories of the uncle that made sense to Mori.

Wait… now's the time to grab a cookie! There was still some left.

"He's a teacher Signal." Ruby continued. "I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. Now I'm all like Hooo, hoooo, Hwachaa." As she made what she thought was martial arts moves.

Mori couldn't help but chuckle.

"Mr. Jin, it is not polite to laugh while you are eating." Goodwitch said coldly.

Mori just stared at the woman and then at Ruby and then back at the woman, incredulous at the hypocrisy that was just being displayed. He responded with a glare, she only glared back.

"So, I've noticed" the man replied to Ruby ignoring the antics of the other members in the room. "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing in a school designed to train warriors."

"Well." Ruby started. "I want to be a Huntress."

"You want to slay monsters." The man stated.

"Yeah" Ruby started to say.

She then started going into detail to the adults. She was talking too fast for Mori to really understand what she was saying. But he did catch her core motivation.

To help people.

There were a lot of people who'd say they wanted to help people but to Mori in the short amount of time he'd known Ruby, he could tell she truly meant what she said. She wanted desperately to be hero. That sort of drive, Mori couldn't help but be impressed with.

"Do you know who I am." The man asked as Ruby finished her chatter.

Mori again, raised an eyebrow as he thought to himself that was kind of egotistical to say.

"You're Professor Ozpin" Ruby replied. "You're a Professor at Beacon. You're the headmaster."

Oh, Ruby did know who he was. Wait wasn't that where Yang was going to, and the place Ruby would gush about to Mori every couple of seconds.

"Hello." The now-named Ozpin replied.

"Nice to meet you." Ruby responded back.

"Would you like to come to my school?"

"More than anything." The girl responded with conviction.

The Professor turned to Goodwitch next to him and then back to Ruby.

"Well ok."

Ruby face lit up like a firework.

Mori expected this to finally be over, happy that the girl was one step closer to her dream, but then the man turned to him.

"And Mr. Jin." Ozpin started.

Uh-oh

"From my talks with the police it seems like you have amnesia and no known family right now. Correct"

Mori could only nod lying through his teeth right now, danger signs blaring in his head.

"And you just met Miss Rose recently, so you two have barely known each other, right?" The headmaster continued.

Both Mori and Ruby nodded to that question.

"So why did you risk your life for someone you barely knew?" The man finished.

Because he wasn't really risking his life?

Was what he wanted to say; however, Mori had common sense and went with something else.

"Well she saved my life earlier and tried to help me find out who I am, and if I'd let her get hurt, then I'd feel guilty for letting that happen to someone who'd been so kind to me."

The subject of the conversation blushed and looked down at the floor too embarrassed to look at Mori right now.

"Hmm." Was all Ozpin gave as a response.

Mori couldn't help but feel that his day was just going to get worse.

"Would you also like to attend Beacon?"

At this, both Mori and Goodwitch finally found something in common.

"Ozpin!" The Huntress said shocked.

"Are you sure about that sir, I have no memories, nothing to my name and no training. I am basically an unknown." Mori replied hoping to get the man to see reason, Goodwitch nodding in approval.

"That should be no problem." The professor said. "Someone with your courage is exactly what Beacon looks for. Even though you say have nothing I could see you have potential, it would be bad if we sent prospective students away because they lacked resources. At Beacon you would be given room, food and lien for basic necessities. That and with our networks we could possibly find your missing family. You'd have somewhere to stay and help you while trying to recover your memories."

Warnings signs were blaring through Mori's head. This man was lying. Mori doubted if it was anyone else that were here, the professor would be extending this offer. For some reason this man wanted him at his school. He wanted to say no but if he did his charade could be exposed.

If he was actually amnesiac it would not make any sense to reject it, this offer was too good. The man put him between a rock and a hard place.

After agonizing over it he decided he'd rather deal with questions than be a part of whatever this man's plans were. He'd been used before and betrayed, that would not happen again. Just as he was going to decline firmly, he caught a look at Ruby. For some reason she was just as excited about Mori joining as she was about her invitation.

Why? They just met and yeah, they helped each other but she shouldn't be this excited. As his decision was suddenly being tested, he caught her eyes. Big mistake. They were essentially pleading say yes, say yes, say yes, Mori finally broke.

"Wow you'd do that for me sir, thank you." Mori said with the fakest smile he'd ever given.

"It's no problem young man." Ozpin smiled back.

Screw you.

Mori was suddenly assaulted by a hug.

"YES! WE ARE BOTH GOING TO BEACON."

**Present**

Yup, Mori didn't trust Ozpin at all. He was giving off serious Park Mubong chess master vibes. He was going to have to be on guard in Beacon. He might have to look out for Ruby as well, it was clearly odd how the Professor let her in too early.

"Blaugh!" A sudden sound of sickness interrupted Mori's thoughts as a blonde male ran past Ruby, Yang and Mori.

"Man, I guess, the view isn't for everyone." Yang stated.

"He's almost as bad with flying as Mori." Ruby concerningly replied.

" _If only they knew."_ Mori thought to himself.

No, he was not bad with flying that was only an assumption the girls made. He had been in space for heaven's sake.

He was afraid of killing everyone on the ship by accident.

Ever since he lost his powers his weight control of his half of Ruyi Jingu Bang had basically disappeared. The stupid thing was barely responding to him and he had to try his best to keep the thing as light as possible to keep them from plummeting to their doom. It only allowed for him to have thoughts and nothing else, he couldn't even respond properly.

"Ew Yang it got on your shoe." Ruby said in disgust.

Mori was once again pulled into reality by the sister's antics.

"Ew gross, ew gross, ew gross" Yang started freaking out.

"Get away from me!" Ruby screamed.

" _Heh"_ Mori thought, those two were fun.

When the ship finally reached Beacon, Mori ran to the ground glad that the nightmare of weight control was over, while also pretending he was afraid of flying.

If they were thinking that he was afraid he had better make it convincing.

When he finished his act, he looked around trying to find the sisters. He found Ruby, she seemed to be getting scolded by a girl in white. Like literally all white, white hair, white dress, white heel, just…white. He wasn't quite sure the girl was wearing any other color. Just as he was going to make his way over to provide support, a boom occurred… right where Ruby was.

" _Ruby what did you get yourself into this time."_

* * *

" _Ugh I should not have eaten a big breakfast this morning."_

The owner of these thoughts Jaune Arc wiped his mouth as he finished throwing up in the trash can.

" _Great first impression Jaune, just fantastic. People are going to know you as airsick boy… at least I wasn't as bad as that guy huddled in the corner of the ship."_

As the young Arc exited the ship, he could only look out at amazement at the sight Beacon. This was going to be the start of a new life for him. One where he can finally follow in the footsteps of his family. One where he'd be a Huntsman…he hoped… he had no combat experience and his weapon he stole from home, everyone else had so much cooler weapons all he had was a sword and shield. He really shouldn't be here, he faked his transcripts after all, Jaune was hoping he would be able to learn how to be a fighter in Beacon.

***Kaboom**

" _What was that?"_ as Jaune turned towards the sound of the explosion.

Oh, it was a young looking girl in a red hood and a girl in… woah she was pretty; like the prettiest girl Jaune had ever seen, the girls from his hometown Ansel were nice, but this girl was like an angel…in white… like a snow angel.

Jaune was going to use that for later.

As the snow angel continued to yell at the red-haired girl, another black-haired girl with a bow came, With the newcomers arrival, more arguing occurred, then the snow angel left in a huff, after that the black haired one left and the red-head was left alone, looking incredibly sad and lonely. Jaune couldn't help but feel bad for the girl. Her entrance in Beacon was as bad as his and the guy curled up in the ship.

" _Well, let's see if the ole Arc charm can cheer her up."_

"Hey I'm Jaune." He says extending out his hand.

"Ruby." the red-haired girl replies as she takes it. She suddenly laughs "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship."

Ah dammit.

"Ruby!" A new voice enters

It was the other guy who embarrassed himself. The guy curled up in a ball the entire time. Now that he got a better look, he seemed well built, with brown hair styled to look like one of those Mistralian cartoon characters, and a sleeping mask on top of his head.

"I heard the boom what happened?" the newcomer continued.

Ruby started to prattle. "Mori you suddenly left the ship in a panic, Yang left me on my own, I ran into this mean girl, she started shaking fire dust in my nose, I sneezed and-"

"Okay, okay" The now named Mori interrupted. "Calm down, speak slowly, now explain?"

Huh, Jaune couldn't help but notice that those two seemed close, it looks like they knew each other before Beacon, they didn't look like siblings though.

Wait…was that the girl's boyfriend?

Oh shoot! Was the boyfriend going to beat him up? He was just trying to help her out because she was looking sad, he wasn't trying to steal her away. If he was going to make a move on anyone it would've been on the white-haired snow angel.

"And then vomit boy helped me up." As Ruby finished. Both staring at him as he was still panicking

" _Wait Vomit Boy?"_

Jaune suddenly preferred to be called airsick boy.

As the group made their way to the entrance hall, Jaune continued to defend his air sickness.

"All I'm saying is that motion sicknesses is a lot more common than people think."

"I'm sorry, vomit boy was the first thing I thought of." Ruby replied while Mori chuckled.

Jaune needed something to save his pride.

"Well what if I called you crater face or you uhhh, porcupine" Jaune retaliated.

"Hey that was an accident."

"Porcupine?"

"Yeah porcupine" Jaune answered Mori back. "You know because your spiky hair and the fact that you were curled up in a ball."

"Hah Porcupine, guess you're now porcupine Mori." Ruby as she pointed at Mori laughing.

"Porcupine is infinitely better than vomit boy and crater face." Mori shot back.

Oof he was right. So Jaune decided to change the subject.

"Well the name's Jaune Arc, short, sweet, ladies love it."

"No they don't." Mori quickly retorted.

Ouch, it may have been true, but he didn't have to say it that quickly.

"They will…well, I hope they will… I think my mom always says that…."

Did he really just bring up his Mom?

"You know what, never mind." Jaune decided to end this before he made himself look worse.

Then the awkward silence came.

" _Great."_ Jaune thought to himself. _"Among the three people that completely embarrassed themselves looks like I'm the king."_

Thankfully Ruby decided to break the awkward silence when she pulled out what looked like to be a big red box.

"Soooo, I got this." As the girl transformed the box to be a giant scythe.

"Woah." Jaune was shocked at the weapon. "Is that a scythe?"

It was a freaking giant scythe, way cooler than his sword and shield.

"It's also a high-impact sniper rifle." The girl happily responded.

Did she just speak a different language?

"A what?"

"It's also gun." Ruby replied.

Ohhh, that makes it so much cooler.

"That's cool." Was Jaune's excited response.

"So, what do you got." The girl asked light shining in her eyes.

Well time to try to follow that weapon up with his crappy weapon.

"I got this sword." As Jaune pulled out the family weapon Crocea Mors.

"Ohhh." Was Ruby's response.

Then Jaune took out his sheath transformed it to it's shield form.

"And I got this shield."

"Neat." This time Mori responded.

"So, what do they do?" Ruby asked.

Not much, just stab things and protect him from getting stabbed.

"Well, the shield gets smaller so if I get tired of carrying it I can just…put it away."

"Wouldn't it weigh the same?"

Yes Ruby, yes it did.

"Yeah it does." Was Jaune's dejected response.

"Well I'm a bit of a dork when it comes to weapons." Ruby shy responded. "I guess I did go overboard when designing it."

Wait she made that herself. What the hell. And she's so young. What kind monsters are in Beacon.

"You made that yourself?" Mori vocalized Jaune's thoughts.

"Wait, Mori, you didn't know I made Crescent Rose. I've been talking about her ever since we met. How could you not be paying attention." Ruby accused with a pout on her.

Oof looks like Mori just made the same mistake Jaune's dad occasionally did. Pretend he's paying attention and then gets caught on it. If Ruby acted anything like his mother, Mori was going to be in the doghouse for a while.

"No I've been listening but you've mostly talked upgrading it, and different things you can do with it, you never said you actually made it."

"Oh, ok." As the girl continued eying the spiky haired youth looking a little less mad.

"If it makes you feel better, I think it's really impressive that you were able to make a weapon as complicated as that." Mori continued.

"Ahh, thank you." Ruby responded blushing, her previous anger all but gone.

Nice save dude.

"So, what do you have Mori?"

Jaune was curious of what the other teen, with her the girl he could see her carrying the box underneath her red hood. But he couldn't see anything on Mori.

"Well I have this… and this." Mori replied.

He was just holding up his fists.

"Mori! You don't have a weapon?! Why don't you have a weap…oh sorry."

"Again Ruby, it's fine."

"Well we are going to get you a weapon after inititation." The girl responded.

"We could try to find one, but I don't think we will find a weapon I will like."

"Nonsense Mori, everyone has a weapon they like."

" _Well this is weird."_ Jaune thought to himself.

"Are you going to be ok during initiation." The blonde-haired swordsman asked the weaponless youth.

"I think I will be fine." He replied back.

"Yeah his body is amazing." Ruby innocently chipped in.

That was…way too much info. Wasn't she a little young for stuff like that.

"Ruby, phrasing." As an embarrassed Mori put his hand on his face.

"What, but you do have an amazing body Mori. That night you were incredible." Ruby turned back oblivious to what she was saying.

Jaune really didn't want to know the details of their relationship.

"Ruby…no, just no…" The embarrassed Mori said. "She just means I can take a lot of hits from people and be fine." As Mori then turned to Jaune trying to save his reputation.

Oh whew, Jaune was concerned for a second, but it seemed like Ruby just had poor word choice.

"But Mori you—mrgh." Ruby tried to start to say something until Mori put his hand on her mouth.

"For my reputation and Jaune's sanity, Ruby please…just stop talking." Mori was practically begging now.

Ruby was struggling to get his hand off her mouth while Jaune was thinking about how to save the situation. Then he realized, they have been walking for a while.

"Uh guys."

The two stopped their comical struggle and turned.

"Are we going the right way?"

After finally finding the entrance hall. The trio were greeted with a large crowd of people.

"Ruby! Mori! Over here I saved you guys a spot." A blonde-haired girl shouted out to two of the three.

"Oh, that's my sister Yang, we'll see you after the ceremony Jaune." As Ruby started to run towards the blonde.

"Wait." Jaune started to say. "Where I am supposed to find a nice quirky girl to talk to."

Oh shoot, did he really just say that in front of the boyfriend. Him and his stupid mouth.

"Mori?" The girl suddenly stopped. "Are you not joining?"

"Nah." The boy responded. "I think I'll hang out with Jaune. You go on ahead"

Oh shoot, he was going to get beat up wasn't he.

"Ok," the girl responded. "Well I see you later as well," And with that Ruby was gone.

Mori had no weapon, but unless he faked his transcripts like Jaune did, then he at least knew how to fight, something Jaune could not say. In an effort to save his face Jaune immediately turned to Mori.

"I'm so sorry I didn't know she was your girl, I just thought she looked lonely and needed help, you know what my mom always says 'friends are just strangers you haven't met.' I promise I wasn't trying to steal her away. Besides she's too young for me and there's someone else I have my eyes on. Please don't beat me up," Jaune pleaded to Mori.

"Jaune…the hell are you talking about," Mori replied, clearly confused.

"Aren't you guys like a thing?"

"What? No, I just met her." Mori responded.

Oh looks like his face was going to be safe afterall.

"Well then how do you guys know each other?"

And with that Mori went into his story. Jaune couldn't help but feel parts of it were weird, but if Ruby was fine with it then it was probably fine.

"Wow you were personally, invited by the headmaster even though you have no memories that's amazing." Jaune said feeling a little jealous on how Mori got in.

"Yeah I know." Mori replied with a smile. Though it did look a little fake.

"So why hang out with me then?" Jaune asked, now curious of the boy's intention now that it was clear his face was going to be safe.

"Ever since I arr…lost my memories. I've only been around Ruby, her sister Yang and their father Taiyang." Mori started. "You're the first guy I've met that is around my age, isn't trying to blow me up and doesn't think I'm trying to woo his daughters."

Oh, that made sense. Jaune could emphasize with Mori, he had seven sisters after all. He loved them but man he needed some guy time sometimes.

"Like spiky, and tall, blond, and scraggily over there." A voice interrupted their conversation as the two boys took a look at who was talking about them.

It was the snow angel! Apparently, her name was Weiss. She was talking with Ruby again.

"Dude." He quickly nudged Mori. "That snow angel just called us out. She's totally into one of us."

"You really think that?" Mori said flatly.

"Yeah, man you think I should try my luck?" Jaune didn't get a response from Mori for a while as the spiky haired teen just stared at him.

"You know, do what you want." Mori said while shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh, if I get the chance, I'm taking it." Jaune said excitedly.

Jaune's excitement got interrupted by the headmaster.

"I'll…keep this brief." The headmaster started. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Silence, that was all that was left in the auditorium after the excited whispers. Just heavy silence. The one to break the silence was Professor Goodwitch, as she gave them instructions on what to do for today and tomorrow.

"Well that was heavy." Jaune said to Mori as they made their way to the gymnasium.

"Yeah." Mori replied.

But it didn't look like he seemed to have been paying attention to Jaune, instead he looked like he was in deep thought.

" _He must be inspired by Ozpins words because he's trying to find himself."_ Jaune thought to himself

After the two put their stuff away, they headed straight to the gymnasium. When the two got to the gym, Jaune laid out a sleeping bag and then went to change into his favorite pajamas, while Mori went to go talk to the sisters.

He could feel everyone's eyes on him as he went back to his spot, probably jealous of his pajamas.

After all, it was the limited-edition Pumpkin Pete onesie.

"Jaune, what are you wearing?" Mori asked when he returned, with a look of horror on his face.

"My favorite pajamas, why?" Jaune confusedly replied.

"Just… nevermind. Just do what you want." Mori said with a resigned tone, as he then went to bed putting his mask over his eyes.

"Ok." Jaune said as he tucked himself in.

"Hey Jaune?" Mori suddenly asked as Jaune finally got comfortable.

"Yeah?" Jaune replied a little irritated that he got interrupted when he was so close to sleep.

"So, Ruby made her own weapon, what about yours?" Mori asked.

"Oh, it's nothing too special, my great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune replied.

"The War?" Mori responded.

"You don't know the the wa…oh yeah sorry." Jaune said, suddenly remembering Mori's story. "I'll explain it later."

"You don't seem too proud of it." Mori frankly stated.

"What?" Jaune asked confused.

"Your weapon, you don't seem too proud of your weapon." Mori specified.

"I mean…I guess it just kind of feels like a hunk of junk compared to everything else I've seen here. Especially compared to Crescent Rose." Jaune admitted.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of a weapon that's old, it just means it has served its purpose for a long time. Besides don't feel bad about Crescent Rose, it's Ruby's best friend."

"You mean like a best friend?" Jaune tried to clarify.

"No."

Huh, Jaune thought as he pondered Mori words about his weapons age, it made sense. The best friend being a scythe did not.

"Well hopefully, it'll be good for me and I'll be able to fulfil my dream of being a huntsman." Jaune remarked.

"Is that really your dream?"

"Yes, I mean I think…I guess." Jaune replied, being more unsure of his motivations.

"Well, as long as you are doing what you want."

As long as he was doing what he wanted. Jaune felt those words in his heart. Was he really doing what he wanted? Of course he was, it was expected that Arc's become Huntsmen and Jaune wanted to follow the family tradition, so he was doing what he wanted…right?

As Jaune continued to think about Mori's words a loud voice suddenly rang out as an argument seemed to develop, he sat up looking for the source of the noise; it was a familiar sight. It was the snow angel, Weiss, along with Ruby and Yang, and the black bowed girl now wearing a kimono.

"Hey Jaune?" Mori asked still in bed with his mask over him.

"Yeah?"

"The commotion Is involving Ruby, Yang, and that girl Weiss isn't it."

"How did you know?"

"Call it a lucky guess."

* * *

Pyrrha couldn't help but feel nervous today. It wasn't about passing initiation; with that she would be fine.

No, she was more worried about her new team.

Pyrrha was quite accomplished for her age. Graduating at the top of Sanctum, and winning the Mistralian Regional 4 years in a row. She was so strong she got the nickname the Invincible Girl. With those kinds of an accomplishments, she had all sorts of endorsements and fame.

Despite all this, she couldn't help but feel empty. Even though she was famous, she was lonely, yes, people kept on trying to be friends with her, but they only wanted to know Pyrrha the celebrity, not Pyrrha Nikos, the 17-year-old girl.

Even fighting had lost its luster. In the last two Mistralian regionals, most of her opponents gave up, and even if they did not, they didn't give their all, being too scared.

"Pyrrha Nikos was going to win anyways."

That had been the motto at the tournament for the past 2 years. As a warrior it hurt. Someone, please challenge her, make her work for victory, let the title of Champion actually mean something, like it did when she first won.

By going to Beacon instead of the Huntsman academy located in Mistral, Haven, the young maiden hoped that she would be able to get away from her fame.

Based on her current conversation that did not seem like that was going to be the case.

"So, Pyrrha." The white-haired girl named Weiss began. "Have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!"

Ah yes, Weiss Schnee, she introduced herself yesterday to Pyrrha, she was the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, the largest Dust Manufacturer in remnant, and while she wasn't the worst person to introduce herself, she still wasn't the best, It seemed like all she cared about was Pyrrha's reputation.

"I'm not quite sure, I was just planning on letting the chips fall and seeing what happens." Pyrrha responded with a neutral answer.

"Well… I was thinking we'd make a great team together." Weiss responded.

In terms of grades and combat, probably. Pyrrha could tell the girl was well trained. In terms of actually enjoying her school life, heavens no.

But since Pyrrha was raised to be polite, she decided it wouldn't hurt to agree with her.

"Well, that'd be wonderful." The champion responded with a fake smile.

"Great" The heiress responded.

At those words Weiss suddenly looked like she was in the middle of plotting to conquer the world. Pyrrha could only hope someone can save her from this conversation.

Her savior came from an unlikely source.

"You know what else is great Weiss? Me, the name's Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you." As a blond boy interrupted Weiss's plans of world domination.

"You again?" Weiss responded looking irritated.

Pyrrha decided to introduce herself as well.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune!"

"Yeah, yeah." Was all the boy's response as he went over to Weiss.

That was… interesting, usually people would be all over her, instead the boy ignored her. It was a good interesting.

"So, I couldn't help but hear you talking about me yesterday." The boy continued as he tried to flirt with the heiress.

Pyrrha couldn't help but internally raise her eyebrows at this. Based on her previous interactions with Weiss, she highly doubted she would be talking about this boy, and even if she did, it wouldn't be positive.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Was Weiss's reaction, confirming Pyrrha's internal thoughts.

"Oh, you don't need be embarrassed, So, I have been hearing that we'd be in teams, I'd think we'd make a great one." The boy continued, oblivious to Weiss's obvious discomfort with the boy.

"I heard the teams are actually of four people so-." Pyrrha decided to join in.

"You don't say." As Jaune suddenly turned his attention to Pyrrha. "well hot stuff, play your cards right and you can join the winning team with me and Mori."

"I heard my name, what's going on." As another boy suddenly appeared.

Jaune started to explain to the newcomer the current events. While Weiss was starting to get more irritated, Pyrrha looked over the boy named Mori. He was the same height as Jaune, with brown hair like a main character from cartoons she used to watch.

In fact, he kind of looked like the main character from one of her favorite shows as a kid. It was about a group of kids, who got transported to a different world and teamed up with these Grimm made of data. What was it called again? Digital Grimm?

"Jaune is it?" Weiss's voice interrupted Pyrrha's musing. "Do you know who this is?"

Great, Weiss was bringing the attention onto her.

"Nope." Was the Jaune's response.

"To be honest, I have no idea as well." Mori chipped in.

This irritated Weiss; Pyrrha, however, was suddenly starting to get intrigued, did they really not know she was?

"This is Pyrrha."

"Hello there." Pyrrha decided to introduce herself again.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum." The heiress continued.

"Never heard of it." Was all Jaune gave as a response.

"Ditto." Was the other boys answer.

This only seemed to have piss off Weiss more; Pyrrha, on the other hand was getting more excited

" _They really do not know who I am."_ The champion excitedly thought to herself.

"She's won the Mistralian regional tournament 4 years in a row." Weiss continued.

"The what?"

"Sounds cool." Were the boys' only responses.

They didn't know what the Mistral tournament was? That was surprising, still Pyrrha excitement was starting to burst.

"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" Weiss said, desperate to find anything that the boys would recognize.

This, Jaune seemed to know.

"That's you!" The blonde boy said turning to Pyrrha "They only do that for famous people and cartoon characters."

Of all the things she was famous for…that's what he knew?

"Yeah it's pretty cool, sadly it isn't very good for you." She explained.

It really wasn't, it was basically sugar, with more sugar and just in case there wasn't enough, extra sugar just to be safe.

"I still don't know who she is." Was all Mori said.

"Mori, how do you not know who Pumpkin Pete is." As Jaune suddenly took Weiss's role. This seemed to have really set the heiress off.

Pyrrha couldn't help but feel amused at the two's antics.

As Weiss started to berate the two, Pyrrha could only look at them, smile to herself, and think.

" _I have to have them on my team. At least one of them."_

* * *

Ozpin could not help but smile today. The temperature was great, Glynda had taken a break from nagging him about Mr. Jin, and the coffee was perfect.

Ozpin started his speech. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda then stepped up.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." The deputy headmistresses stated.

An excited murmur broke out between the students. Ah yes, teams, it was important that Huntsman could work together even if they operated independently. This was the foundation of that.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So, it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." As Ozpin continued Glynda's words.

Now was the second-best part of initiation. The reaction of the students to how they got their partners.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"WHAT!?"

Ah that was Miss Rose, she had quite a healthy set of lungs.

Ozpin then got serious.

"Make you sure everything in your path or you will die." He then finished his speech with instructions on finding the temple and retrieving the relics within.

"Any questions?"

A hand raised up; it was young Arc. Ozpin just decided to ignore him.

"Now set your position."

And with that the best of part of Ozpins day began, the launching of the students.

"Uhm sir?" It was Mr. Arc again. Ozpin finally decided to answer him.

"Yes?"

"About this landing strategy will we be dropped off or something."

Ozpin could only internally raise an eyebrow at this question. Did he not see him launch the students into the forest?

"No, you will be falling." Ozpin decided to humor the boy.

"Oh, will we get like a parachute or something?" The boy hopefully asked.

Oh, that's adorable, the boy thought he would get a parachute.

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy." Ozpin replied.

"So, what's a land—augh" Jaune tried to finish but his launch time came.

As Ozpin watched the blonde boy fly through the sky, prepared at a moment's notice to have Glynda save him if he did not have anyone help him.

Thankfully, Ms. Nikos seemed to have grown fond of him and saved him.

"You know sir, if she didn't do that, he would have died, right?" Spoke a voice next to Ozpin.

It was Mr. Jin, the last person in line to be launched.

"I don't know what your talking about Mr. Jin; Mr Arc has been trained to be a Huntsman.

Ozpin knew what he said was bs, he knew the boy's transcripts were faked, but the boy was from a strong Huntsmen family like the Arc's and he already had bits and pieces of the Arc ability in him, Ozpin decided to let him in, despite the lies and see how far he would go. So far, his natural charisma seemed to have gotten a strong warrior like Ms. Nikos's attention and he seemed to have gotten the enigma known as Mr. Jin to be interested in him as well.

Speaking of Mr. Jin, Ozpin hoped with initation he could get a more accurate descriptions of Mori Jin's abilities. From this conversation Ozpin was able to learn one thing about his abilities. Despite having amnesia the boy had the skill to read the abilities of other people. Once Mr. Jin was reached, Ozpin waited in anticipation, excited to see what would happen…except nothing happened, the platform didn't launch.

That was interesting, why was not it sending the boy flying. It was like Mr. Jin was too heavy for the thing to send him flying.

"Is it broken sir?" Mr. Jin asked with a smile on his face. "I guess I won't be able to do initiation and join Beacon."

Nonsense Mr. Jin, you will be flying one way or another.

"Glynda." Ozpin stated to the woman next to woman.

"With pleasure." She responded with a bit too much iron in her voice.

And with that Mr. Jin went flying into the forest.

"You know Glynda you didn't have to throw him that hard."

Just as Glynda was going to retort, a loud noise was heard.

It was the largest dust cloud Ozpin had ever seen… and it was right where Mr. Jin had landed.

" _Well."_ Ozpin thought to himself. _"Looks like we are going to have order some more trees."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you like the story so far? Reviews are welcome  
> Beta'd Woof 28


	4. Emerald Forest Shenanigans

* * *

Weiss's start at Beacon was not ideal. Ok, that was an understatement. It had so far been a complete disaster.

Before she got to Beacon, her expectations were that the school only consisted of the elite, the cream of the crop, the best of the best. Professionalism was to be the standard.

Now Weiss could have gone to Atlas Academy like her sister Winter did. After all, Atlas was one of the four Huntsmen Academies and had a good reputation; but, since Weiss was expected to inherit the Schnee Dust Company, it was important she made foreign connections. Being away from her father was also a perk.

The biggest decider though, was Beacon was the best of the four schools. It was the starting point of many elite Huntsmen. The winner of the last couple of Vytal tournaments had come from Beacon. If one wanted to become a Huntress, Beacons education was second to none in providing that. Schnee's only accepted the best.

Huntsmen were brave, Huntsmen were strong, Huntsmen were loved. If Weiss were to become a Huntsmen from Beacon, she would be able to gain a name for herself and bring back honor to her family name.

At Beacon there would be no time for silliness or those with no potential, that was for combat school to sort out. All that was supposed to matter was the last defenders of Remnant were given the proper education and training to be a service to the people.

Weiss's expectations were soon ruined.

Too start, a child ran into her and got her luggage all over place, then said child blew them up and while Weiss was telling the little girl off, another girl popped up and essentially lectured Weiss on her family's practices.

It hurt Weiss, they were true, but she had nothing to do with the fact her father was a piece of shit.

When she met Pyrrha, Weiss finally met a student in the school who fit the definition of someone who belonged there. Hopefully, they would combine and show the world their talent and might.

Then even that got ruined when she met the two buffoons, A and B. They had no knowledge or class. Buffoon A couldn't take a hint that she wasn't into him and kept hitting on her, and Buffoon B was so dumb she wondered how someone like that could have possibly made it into even a combat school.

Nonetheless the poor abilities of the other students stopped bothering Weiss and instead she decided, as long as her teammate fit the standards, she would be fine. Let those buffoons fail, it didn't matter to her how they did.

Sadly, that plan went to the gutter. As soon as she landed using her glyphs to slow down her descent, Weiss immediately went to look for Pyrrha, they would be the perfect team. Pyrrha was strong and well-respected, finishing at the top her class and winning multiple tournaments she was just born to be a Huntsmen. It would only make sense for them to work together.

Weiss's was able to make eye contact with a redhead…It just wasn't Pyrrha.

That child Ruby suddenly ran out of a bush, almost scaring Weiss into drawing her weapon. As both of them were staring at each other, Weiss turned around and walked away.

"Wait where are you going? We are supposed to be teammates..." Ruby cried out sadly.

Weiss did not care.

They didn't **really** make eye contact, right? At Best they saw each other's shoulders. There was no way her partner for four years was going to be…be that child. It was a mistake; she could not have someone like that carry her down. Weiss needed someone that she could show to Winter and proudly say "This is my partner." That child was not it.

As she was in the middle of convincing herself, a loud noise rang out, Weiss took a look up and her day just got worse.

It was Buffoon A, Jaune. He was trying to get out of a tree. It took a while of struggling before the idiot finally noticed her.

"Hello there," Was all the blonde could say as he awkwardly waved at her. He tried to make it sound cool, but he just failed.

" _Nope, nope, nope."_ Weiss was saying in her head as she quickly turned around and went back to Ruby.

"By no means does this make us friends." Weiss clarified as she grabbed Ruby and started along the path.

"You came back!" Ruby happily cried.

If Weiss had to choose between the child or Buffoon A, at least the child looked competent at fighting. That and she wouldn't have to worry about getting hit on by this one.

As Weiss continued the pathway the child Ruby called out to her.

"What's the hurry?"

Did that girl really not know? They were being graded on initiation, if they did not do well, they would get a bad grade, and Schnees don't get bad grades.

"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow! I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your-" Weiss was suddenly cut off by her new partner appearing in front of her.

"I'm not slow, see? You don't have to worry about me!" Ruby said with a smile.

How did the girl close the distance that fast, was it her semblance?

"When did…" was all Weiss could say as her voice trailed off.

"Weiss, just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters!" Ruby says as she puts her arm around Weiss's shoulder.

Weiss was really tempted to shove it off.

"You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss, and after it's all over, you're going to be like, 'Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool...'"

Weiss highly doubted she would ever say that.

"And I want to be her friend."

She would rather dye her hair green.

Though, based on her semblance and the fact Ruby was at Beacon, Weiss had to admit even though she was a child, she had potential.

Just as Weiss about to respond a loud noise rang out a couple of seconds later as the pair turned to look what it was. It was the largest cloud of dust cloud (not the energy) that Weiss had ever seen.

"Weiss! Mori is in trouble we need to go help him." Ruby yelled out.

Mori…was that Buffoon B?

"How do you even know who it is? you can't even be sure that's him."

"Anytime that something weird happens, Mori is involved. Besides if it isn't him, someone could still need help." Ruby stated matter-of-factly .

That…that didn't make any sense, and besides everyone here was a Huntsman in training, they didn't need someone to baby them.

Before Weiss could retort, the girl ran away quickly, leaving only a trail of roses.

Weiss followed her teammate in a huff. When she finally caught up to her partner, Weiss was greeted to quite the sight, an entire section of the Emerald forest was just gone, with no tree's anywhere, it looked completely barren. At the center of the chaos Buffoon B himself, with her partner trying to make sure he was alright.

"You buffoon," Weiss angrily stated as she marched to the duo "What did you do?"

"I, uhhh, landed." Was all Buffoon B could say to her.

Landed, all he did was landed? Normally when someone lands, they don't cause the topography to change.

"So, I guess we are partners?" Mori turned to Ruby and asked.

"Sorry Mori, no, I'm already with Weiss." The girl apologetically responded.

Well if they wanted to be partners, Weiss would be happy to let that happen. Maybe it could still work…no, no, plausible deniability already left the building when she came back for the child.

"So, I hate to ask this." Buffoon B says as he interrupts Weiss's internal debate on if she could offload Ruby. "But are those grimm? Because, they kind of look a little unfriendly."

What he'd never seen a Grimm before, what kind of idiot was he.

Wait did he just ask if those were Grimm?

Weiss quickly turns around to the sight of a pack of Beowolves converging on the trio.

Apparently, Buffoon B's, dust show decided to attract every Grimm within a mile radius.

"You know Mori, you seem to have thing with attracting Beowolves." Was all her partner Ruby could say.

Weiss on the other hand was debating to herself if she could have lived with the flirting.

* * *

So…these were the Grimm, the scourge of Remnant.

Eh, so far, he'd give them a 2 out of 10. They weren't really that threatening, these ones were quite mindless and didn't really have the firepower to injure Mori.

As another Grimm tried to strike him with its claws, Mori once again didn't move and just let it hit him. He could've used his martial arts, but since these Grimm were largely mindless, he didn't feel the need to.

Is what he told himself anyways.

All Mori really needed to do was let it hit him and then he would punch it. It was quite effective.

"You dolt. What are you doing? Get out of my way!"

"Your way? You were in my way!"

"I had that one you just suddenly jumped in there!"

"If I let you take any longer, we'd be here until dinner!"

Speaking of effectiveness, right now, quite the opposite was going on between Ruby and her new partner Weiss.

The communication between the two was lacking, they didn't have any trust, synergy with each other was non-existent and their attacks effectiveness were essentially cut down by half.

Weiss once again attempted to concentrate to unleash a powerful attack on a beowolf, just as she was about to make her move, she was interrupted again by Ruby jumping in and striking down the grimm with her scythe, in a panic Weiss had to redirect her weapon taking out another poor tree.

"Hey watch it!" Ruby cried out.

"Excuse me? You jumped in my way again. There is a proper order and procedure to this. I could've killed you!" Weiss yelled back.

"You'll have to try a lot harder than that if you want to do that." Ruby muttered.

Ok, this was getting ridiculous, before the girls could start turning their weapons on each other, Mori grabbed Ruby and threw her over his shoulder then picked up Weiss by her waist and just started to run.

"Hey what are you doing Mori!"

"You buffoon, let go of me!"

Ignoring their complaints, he ran as far as possible, once he created a safe distance from the pack, he immediately let them go.

"Why did you run away Mori? Those were Beowolves, a combat student could handle them!" Ruby yelled.

"Yes, listen to the child we could have taken them!" Weiss angrily joined her.

"Child! I am not a child; I'm grown up, I drink milk." As Ruby's attention turned back to her partner.

What did milk have to do with being grown up?

"See! That's what I'm talking about!"

"I was afraid if we stayed there any longer, we could've been surrounded by more of those things." Mori explained as he tried to pacify the girls.

What he said was a lie, he was not really worried about those things. He was more worried about the two's bickering.

When teams form, most teams will usually have moments where they will argue as they try to figure stuff out, it is part of the team building process. However, on the battlefield was not the place for that process.

The biggest problem was that they just weren't familiar with each other's battle styles, if they didn't have such a rocky relationship beforehand, they could've at least talked about their strengths and weaknesses and planned for what to do before they got into a confrontation.

It didn't help that their fighting styles were the complete opposite. Weiss was orderly and she had a plan for every single strike. It spoke of the constant training she had but her inability to adapt on the battlefield showed her lack of real-time experience. Ruby on the other hand was impulsive and did what she felt like. She was strong especially for her age, but she wasn't used to fighting with other people, as evidenced by the fact that during the robbery she left Mori on his own and during the recent bout with the Beowolves she kept on getting in Weiss's way.

"Look, Mori, right? I appreciate the concerns you have but we would have been fine. Now we have wasted enough time, so we need to get to the temple to find the relics to finish initiaton." Weiss said as she finally seemed to be calming down.

Initiation, that was still a thing, he still needed to find a partner, if he didn't get one, would he get kicked out? Why was he here again? He didn't even want to be here.

"Yeah, let's get going…Where are we going?" Ruby asked looking around the forest.

Oh yeah, he's here because he looked that girl in the eye's and his will broke. Mori wasn't quite sure how she did it, but she somehow did. Maybe that's why Ozpin mentioned silver eyes. If Mori hadn't seen her speed in action, he would've been sure her semblance was making you unable to say no to her.

"We are going…where are we? You buffoon! Where did you take us?!" the heiress angrily shrieked.

Mori flinched at the girl's angry glare. He didn't know, he'd never been here before.

"Speaking of which, you carried us really far Mori, how did you do that?" Ruby curiously asked.

"Oh, it wasn't too hard, you guys weren't **that** heavy." Mori casually responded.

He soon found himself on the ground.

The girls for the first time showed teamwork, as Ruby delivered a quick punch to his gut while Weiss kneed him as he ricocheted from the initial strike.

See, it was possible for the two to work together.

"Ouch…I knew you have a tough body Mori, but it felt like I was hitting a rock." Ruby winced as she gingerly held her hand.

"My knee…" Weiss complained clutching her leg "What the hell are you made of? Hitting you took a big chunk out of my aura."

Mori could only shrug as he got back up.

"Mori's weirdness aside, how do we find the ruins." Ruby said as she still held her hand.

"Based off the location of the sun… it's this way" Weiss stated as she gently let go of her leg.

After walking a while, it was clear Weiss had no idea where she was going.

"Sorry we passed it…it's actually this way."

"Weiss, why can't you admit you don't know where we are going?" Ruby tiredly asked.

"Because I know where we are going…we are going to the forest temple." Weiss replied.

At that, both Mori and Ruby groaned.

"Oh, don't give me that it's your fault we are lost anyways." Weiss accused

"My fault! How is it my fault!?" Ruby snapped back.

"If you didn't go 'Oh no my boyfriends in trouble we got to go save him' we wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place."

"Did you not see the giant dust cloud, I'm sorry I got concerned about a friend after seeing that and he's not my boyfriend." Ruby defended herself.

Mori sighed as he put his ears between his hands and stepped in between the girls, hoping to at least minimize the argument that was developing again.

People kept on thinking Mori was Ruby's boyfriend, and frankly, Mori couldn't really blame them. Ever since he landed on Remnant the girl kept on dragging him around. He wasn't even sure why she got attached this quickly, or why he kept on letting it happen. There was something about her that made Mori just go with it. It honestly kind of reminded him of his relationship with his teacher Xuangzang.

"You think you're so perfect, don't you?" Ruby angrily accused.

Wait when did the argument reach this point? He wasn't paying attention.

"I'm not perfect… not yet, but I am better than you." Weiss retorted as she went ahead with a huff.

That was kind of harsh, Mori took a quick look over at Ruby to make sure she was ok.

"But…you don't even know me." Ruby sadly whimpered.

She was not.

Trying to cheer her up, Mori put his hand on her shoulder.

"Just give her time, it'll take a bit for her to get use to you." Mori started. "If it makes you feel better, I thought you were a little strange initially."

"Mori, I don't want to hear you of all people call me strange." The girl said as a little smile crossed her face.

"Says the girl with a scythe as a best friend," Mori shot back "Not that there's anything wrong with that." He quickly added.

"No, no there's nothing wrong with that." Ruby cheerfully replied.

Mission cheer up Ruby accomplished.

"She just needs to see me to do something completely awesome, like I did with you." The girl excitedly stated.

Suddenly a giant shadow appeared over the two of them, Mori looked up, it was a giant bird. Suddenly getting chills Mori looked at Ruby.

Oh no… In the short time that Mori had gotten to know Ruby, he could tell when she was going to do something reckless. He called it the look…and she had it on right now.

"Hey Weiss!" Ruby shouted out as she went up to catch up to the heiress.

Mori's fear on the look came true a couple minutes later as the two girls found themselves on top of the bird with Mori chasing after them on the ground.

"Mori!" Ruby yelled out "Why didn't you join us!"

"Because even though he's dumb, he's sane!" Weiss replied for Mori.

Technically she was right, with the terrible weight control with his half of Ruyi Jingu Bang, he doubted that the bird would be able to hold him, but telling them that he had one of the heaviest objects in the universe in his ear would only have gotten him more weird looks.

"I still need to find my partner!" Mori shouted back. "I'll keep up with you on the ground!"

"Keep up with a Nevemore!?" Weiss shouted. "There is no way you can do that!"

Mori just ignored her. Stopping suddenly, he put his finger to his ear where Ruyi Jingu Bang was, adjusting it so that he could run faster. With the adjustments made he started to sprint after the now-named Nevermore.

While, running after the bird he suddenly heard a loud girlish scream.

It was Jaune?

Man, Jaune had a high-pitched voice.

Jaune was interesting to Mori. To be honest when Mori said he wanted to hang out with the guy the night before initiation, his reasons he gave Jaune were were sort of true… but they were not the main reason.

His main reason was that Jaune was one of the few students in Beacon to really catch his eye. Ruby and Yang were two of them, and so was Weiss. That's because they were on a different level compared to the rest of the student body. The same went for Jaune as well…except that his different level was below the average. He looked really weak compared to everyone else.

With him being that weak Mori wanted to see if he was actually hiding his strength by getting to know him.

He wasn't hiding his strength.

He really was that weak. So why was he here?

Mori wasn't wondering about Jaune's motivation for being there, from talking to him it seemed like that he wanted to be a Huntsmen to follow his family name, that and like Ruby he wanted to be a hero. It was childish, but the dedication he had to follow that dream even though he was weak, was something Mori couldn't help but admire.

Mori genuinely liked Jaune, he was a bit of a dork, and Mori never thought it was possible for someone to be matching Ruby's nervous energy yesterday, but he was a nice guy who was easy to talk too. That's why when Jaune got launched, Mori was getting ready to go quickly catch him, questions be damned. Thankfully, he didn't have to do that because that really strong student named Pyrrha saved him. Even though Jaune turned out fine, that didn't stop Mori from giving an evil eye to Ozpin for risking the poor boy's life for whatever plan he had for him.

What did Ozpin want with Jaune? The enigmatic professor was the reason why Mori was wondering about Jaune's placement in Beacon. Did he have a big plan for him or was he just a kid to be sacrificed at a moment's whim. Either way, that incident with Jaune only furthered Mori's distrust of the headmaster.

Mori's thoughts were interrupted suddenly as a fist was thrown at him. He was about to just let it hit him and let them break their hand when he realized who it was.

It was Yang.

"Mori!" Yang yelled as Mori got out of the way. "Don't scare me like that, I thought you were a Grimm."

"Sorry about that Yang," Mori apologized. "…so, I guess we are partners than?"

"Actually no, I'm with Blake over there." Yang stated as she pointed out her partner to Mori.

It was the girl with cat ears that helped Ruby with Weiss yesterday. She was wearing a bow to cover her ears, but it was poorly covered. That girl was another person that Mori noticed that was on a different level than the other students. Based on her posture and the way she held herself, it seemed like she had a lot of fighting experience. Especially against other people.

Mori just waved hello at her.

Blake waved back, a little apprehensively though for some reason.

"So, by the way porcupine," Yang started "Was that huge dust cloud you?"

Porcupine? Looks like Ruby told Yang his nickname he got from Jaune.

"Yeah, that was me." Mori apologized as he sheepishly rubbed his head.

"I figured that was you, anytime something weird happens, I think to myself 'What did Jin Mori do this time.'" Yang replied as she gave Mori a playful punch on the shoulder.

Mori could only snort at the hypocrisy of that.

"So, you still don't have a partner?" Blake asked, chipping into the conversation.

"Nope, I got found by Ruby and her partner Weiss and-"

"Wait," Yang interrupted, "Ruby's partner is Ice Queen? Is she still alive? And where is she now?"

"I think she's fine, last I saw of her she was riding a big bird." Mori answered back.

"...What?" Was all the duo could say.

Speaking of which, where were Ruby and Weiss, he should have been following them, did he over shoot them?

"Heeeaaads uuuppppp!" A voice from above called out.

Looks like that question of where Ruby was got answered.

However, what happened next could only be described as chaos.

Just as Ruby was about to land, Jaune suddenly appeared, flying through the air, knocking the two into a tree.

Hmm something about Jaune felt different, like he was still really weak, but he was exuding an energy he didn't have before.

"So is that what you meant by a big bird." Blake asked Mori.

Mori nodded.

Yang herself was speechless, just as she was going to talk, suddenly a loud a noise from the forest.

It was an orange girl crashing what looked to be a bear, then a boy who looked oriental following her muttering something about never doing that again.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa." Blake asked confusedly.

So that's what it was called.

Before Yang could even asnwer that, the really strong student named Pyrrha ran into the clearing being chased by what looked like a scorpion.

As Ruby got down from the tree, suddenly everyone started yelling names. Mori was pretty sure his name was in there as well, but he wasn't sure who yelled it. It was either Ruby or Jaune. They both had high pitched voices. Either way Mori got some new information, apparently the newcomers from the Ursa were named Ren and Nora.

Mori was getting crazy vibes from Nora. He would get along with her.

"Did that girl just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail." Blake for the third time asked trying to make sense of what was going on.

Yang on the other hand finally blew up…literally.

"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!" She screamed as her eyes actually turned red and fire started blaring out.

" _Huh so that's Yang semblance in action."_ Mori thought to himself.

It seemed like all the people that Mori thought looked interesting were in the general area right now…except one.

Wait…where was Weiss?

"How could you leave me!" As the girl shouted down answering Mori's question.

"Should someone do something about that?" Mori asked

"She's going to fall." Blake chipped in.

"She'll be fine." Ruby answered.

"She's falling" the oriental boy named Ren flatly stated.

"I'll save her!" Jaune confidently stated as he leapt to Weiss's rescue.

Mori noted a couple of problems with that declaration.

One, Jaune was still in the tree, so instead of being able to catch her from the ground he leapt from the tree to catch her. That led to problem two…

*crash*

"My hero..." Weiss enthusiastically said as she walked off.

"My back…" Jaune cried out weakly on the ground.

Physics, it existed, Mori wasn't quite sure what Jaune was thinking trying to catch Weiss in the air, Mori suspected it wasn't with his brain.

But unless Jaune was the one that took Mori's cloud Kinto'un, physics was going introduce a harsh lesson to him.

"Great." Yang stated as Pyrrha joined the group still running from the Deathstalker, "Now we are all going to die together"

"Not if I can help it." Ruby confidently stated.

Oh no…Ruby had the look again.

Ruby once again decided to be reckless as she charged at the Deathstalker only to be met by its hard armor as it repelled her attacks. As Ruby tried to retreat, the Nevermore from above attacked by shooting its feathers, none made a direct hit; but one of the feathers caught onto Ruby's cape.

Yang immediately screamed Ruby's name and went to go save her but the Nevermore once again attacked and prevented Yang from helping

As Ruby was struggling to get out, the Deathstalker brought its tail down to strike her.

**Renewal Taekwondo: Bo-Bup**

As if on instinct, Mori used the flash step of his techniques to come to Ruby's aid.

Just as he took a stance ready to deliver another technique, a blur of white entered his vision as Weiss used what looked like a massive amount of Ice dust to freeze the Deathstalker in its place.

Well, looks like he would not need to use his martial arts after all.

"What the, when did you get here!?" Weiss asked, suddenly realizing Mori's appearance. "You know what, never mind I think I understand what my partner meant by weird stuff always going on with you."

Weiss then turned to Ruby.

"And You! You are so childish!" She started yelling at Ruby. "And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style."

Really, was she starting a fight right here?

"And I suppose I can be a bit... difficult... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So, if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer." Weiss finished alleviating Mori's concerns over a new fight.

Well looks like some progress was being made.

"I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this." Ruby meekly replied.

Mori was wondering why Ruby was being more reckless than usual, turns out she just wanted the girl's approval.

"Your fine." Weiss softly answered back, turning back to the group.

At that, Ruby a breathed sigh of relief muttering something about knees.

Then suddenly, Ruby immediately turned to Mori with stars in her eyes.

"How did you do that Mori! I didn't even see you until Weiss called you out, did you remember how to use more of your amazing semblance." The girl asked rapidly as the two followed Weiss back.

Normally he would indulge the girl and go along with her questions; however, now was not the time for that.

Instead, he gave her the most disappointed look he could muster. It seemed to work, as the girl's excited look seemed to drop.

"Ruby," Mori started in a harsh tone. "You are strong, especially for your age…but you've got to stop being so reckless. Be aware of your surroundings, people won't always be there to bail you out when you make a mistake."

This was the first time he had scolded Ruby since he met her. But if she did not fix her flaw of not paying attention in battle, it would one day bite her in the butt… hard.

It felt a bit hypocritical criticizing Ruby, while being annoyed at Weiss. But it wasn't like Mori disagreed with Weiss's statements, he just felt like there was a better place for them.

Ruby only responded by looking down at her feet dejectedly.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled out as she pulled Ruby into a hug. "I'm so glad you are safe."

"…Yeah…" Ruby replied softly.

"Uh guys," Jaune cried out breaking up the sister's moment. "I think that things coming back, What should we do?" He asked as he pointed out the Nevermore circling back.

"Also, that thing is breaking free." Ren calmly stated as he pointed out the Death Stalker freeing itself from its icy prison

"We need to stop dilly dallying and grab the relics and go." Weiss stated.

"Agreed" Ruby joined in breaking free from her sister's grasp. "Our mission was to grab the relics and get out, no need to fight these powerful Grimm."

Powerful Grimm…really? These things were considered dangerous? Sure, they were stronger than those Beowolves but he could still take them on easily, the only reason why Mori didn't annihilate them was because the students were supposed to fight these things as a test.

Is what he told himself anyways.

The group however, seemed to agree with the sentiment as they went to grab what looked like Chess pieces. That's when Mori realized he still had a problem.

"So, does anyone here still need a partner?"

He was greeted to a chorus of no. Well… looks like he failed initiation. Oh well.

"Mori… we still need to find you a partner." Ruby said as she looked at Mori for the first time since getting scolded by him.

"Ruby, I'm glad for the concern." Mori started "But it looks like we won't have the time for that." He said as the Nevermore roared in the background.

"But if you don't have a partner won't you get kicked out?" Jaune asked.

Mori only nodded. It was fine though, He didn't want to be in Beacon in the first place, he had no reason to be a Huntsman, he only joined to keep up his charade of being amnesiac. His only regret was that this would be the end of his time with Yang, Jaune, and Ruby.

Ruby seemed to want to argue more, but the rest of the group reluctantly agreed with Mori's choice, and they made their way back to the starting cliffs.

On the way back, it was decided that since they couldn't make it back safely, it would be best to split into groups and separate the grimm so that they didn't have to deal with both at once. The first group was Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang who would take on the Nevermore. While the second group consisting of Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren would take on the Deathstalker.

Mori decided to join the second to make up for Jaune in case the blonde needed it. Ruby and co would be fine, it looked like the chemistry issues between Weiss and Ruby were getting solved, Yang and Blake also seemed pretty strong, and Ruby seemed to have a new calmness about her, Mori had a feeling he wouldn't have to worry about the look this time.

As the group Mori joined was getting ready to confront the death stalker Jaune suddenly spoke up, asking Mori a question.

"Mori would you be able to take hits from the Death Stalker?"

"I think so." Mori replied, wondering what Jaune was wanting.

Unless the thing that can blow up a planet, he would be fine.

Jaune explained his plan. "Apparently, I have a lot of Aura and can take a hit, along with this shield I'm going to be diverting the grimms attention. Based off what I've gotten to know about you, you are really, really tough, so if you are ok with it, we are both going to be tanks along with Pyhrra to distract it."

Mori nodded in agreement with Jaune's plan. It was a good plan, under the information Jaune would know, it would be the best idea to go with what he suggested. Outside of Mori, none of them had the fire power to break through the beasts armor, and since Mori was being cautious of what he showed, Jaune could only assume that Mori didn't have the fire power to break it either.

He really didn't want to answer more questions about his abilities if he didn't have to.

Is what Mori told himself anyways.

All Jaune knew about Mori's abilities were that Mori was incredibly tough and could take a hit. Being a tank and distraction would be the perfect spot for someone like that.

With the plan now set up and the participants willing, the group immediately started their counterattack.

Nora and Ren split off to the sides bombarding it with their weapons. Nora shooting what looked like to be grenades from her hammer, while Ren would pepper the monster with his smg's. Mori and Jaune distracted the beast as it focused most of its attacks on the tanks. Jaune would dodge, or block with his shield while Pyhrra counterattacked while Mori would anger the beast by making faces at it while letting the thing occasionally hit him.

As the group continued their assault, Ren go hit by its tail, as the thing then directed its attention at him, Jaune immediately came to Ren's aid, blocking the tail of the death stalker with his shield, while Pyhrra fended off the claws. As the Death stalker went for another attack Mori jumped in and grabbed its tail.

"Now, Pyrrha!" Mori yelled as he threw the beast up in the air.

Even though he didn't want to show his techniques, his strength probably didn't need to be hidden, Aura seemed to grant an increase in strength after all.

Pyrrha reacted to his statement as she was able to use her spear to pierce the flying beast's weak underside, finally killing as it hit the ground with a loud thud.

As the group started recovering from the battle, Mori noticed he was getting weird looks from Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha.

"You threw a Deathstalker in the air." Ren stated in bewilderment.

"That was awesome!" Nora excitedly joined in.

"Wait is that not normal?" Jaune confusingly asked. "I thought aura increased strength."

"…You are right Jaune it does." Pyrrha joined in after staring at Mori for a while. "But usually not enough to throw a grown Death Stalker that far in the air."

Oops, looks like Mori used a bit too much strength to be believable, in his defense his body was still a mess and he couldn't properly control it.

"Well either way…" Jaune happily started as he raised his hand in triumph.

Mori joined him, and the rest soon followed.

"Mission accomplished!" Jaune yelled out with a smile.

At the beginning of the day Mori was wondering why Jaune was even let into this school. He was far below his peers in combat ability, didn't even have experience fighting, and he seemed to mostly be ruled by his hormones.

After seeing Jaune's courage, leadership, and strategy in his first battle, Mori couldn't help but smile to himself, even though Jaune was weak right now, he belonged at Beacon.

* * *

She was strong, but right now she didn't belong at Beacon.

Those were Ruby's thoughts on herself as her group was trying to lure the Nevermore away from the other group.

Hearing Weiss nag was annoying because the girl didn't even know her. She only wanted to prove she belonged here, and she was just trying to show that even though she was two years younger than everyone, she belonged. Thankfully, it seemed like Weiss seemed more accepting of Ruby based on their last conversation.

But Mori telling her off really hit Ruby. That look on his face was an expression Ruby had never seen before on him. It felt like her dad or Uncle Qrow telling her off. The worst part was Ruby couldn't argue back with the boy.

Mori and Weiss were right. She had been completely reckless, from her fights with the beowolves, to jumping on the Nevermore, to that stupid charge at the Deathstalker, she had been lucky that people had been bailing her out. Her mistakes were being covered for her and she needed to grow up and learn from them. If she wanted to be an awesome hero she needed to stop making stupid mistakes.

She needed to calm down, look at her surroundings and not jump into things immediately.

As Ruby, started to plan, she first needed to know what the group she was in could do. She already knew Yang's fighting style, Blake looked like her weapon was versatile, and Weiss had a variety of things she could do with dust and her semblance.

She then looked at her surroundings, was there anything they can use to help. They were surrounded by cliffs and ruins, so the mobility of the nevermore would be limited. As Ruby continued to observe everything, a plan formed in her head.

This would work.

"Weiss, Yang, Blake." Ruby yelled out "I have a plan!"

A moment later the group immediately started implementing her plan.

Yang started out immediately, getting the giant bird's attention as she peppered the thing with her shotgun gauntlets Ember Celica.

While doing that she was able to get the Nevermore close to the cliffside, where Weiss immediately used a massive amount of dust to freeze it in place.

Once it was in place Blake immediately detached her weapon and threw it too Yang as they put the ribbon in between two pillars to make a giant sling shot.

The projectile of that shot was Ruby, who was running, firing off Crescent Rose, so that she could gain as much momentum as possible, she then bounced straight into the ribbon stretching it as far as possible.

As Ruby reached the maximum stress point Weiss reappeared, finished with her job of limiting the Nevermores mobility, she used her Glyphs to hold Ruby in place so that they can get a steady shot.

"You think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked Weiss.

"Hmm can I." Weiss responded,

That worried Ruby a little bit, could she?

Just as she turned to ask Weiss seemed to understand what she was going to say.

"Of course, I can." Weiss said in an annoyed tone.

Whew that was good.

And with that Weiss launched Ruby straight into the Nevermore. Using Crescent Rose Ruby hooked the neck of the Nevermore with her blade as she started to go up the cliffside, she then used her semblance to gain more speed and that generated enough power to decapitate the giant grimm at the top of the cliff.

Before she looked at the corpse, she first made sure there was nothing else to worry about, after checking her surroundings, she finally took look at the team's work with only one thought passing her mind.

" _THAT…WAS…AWESOME!"_

The faces on the girl's below only seemed to agree with the sentiment.

After finally making it back to the school the group were immediately called for the next event. Thankfully, it was less dangerous as it was only Ozpin stating the kids that passed initiation and announcing teams.

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark," Ozpin announced.

Four boys then walked up to the podium.

"The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester!" The headmaster finished.

"Next up." The headmaster continued. "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkeryie."

Ruby's four new friends walked up to the podium.

"You have retrieved the white Rook piece and from this day forward you will work together as Team JNPR led by…Jaune Arc!" Ozpin dramatically stated.

"What?" Was all Jaune could say, so shocked that he was made team leader that he collapsed on the ground.

"Congratulations young man," Was all Ozpin offered as a response.

Ruby on the other hand was happy for new friend. She thought that he would be a good leader, even though he was a bit dorky, he was nice, she had a feeling that leadership was exactly right for him.

"Finally," Ozpin stated. "Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao-Long,"

Looks like it was her turn, as Ruby then stepped on the podium with her sister and new teammates.

"The four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces, from this day onward you will work together as Team Rwby, Led by… Ruby Rose!"

Oh cool, the team was named after her…wait who was the Leader…

She was!

"I'm so proud of you Sis." Yang said as Ruby received a hug from her sister.

Ruby wanted to respond and be happy, and she was, she was going to be on a team with sister and be its leader, but that look on Weiss's face did not look happy with the headmaster decision.

Ah biscuits, just when progress was being made.

"And that is the last of the Teams," Ozpin finished,

Hearing this Ruby couldn't help but feel sad, as she turned to find Mori in the back, giving a thumbs up at her in congratulations.

She gave one back, but reluctantly. It looked like Mori wouldn't be going to Beacon after all… and it was so unfair!

He couldn't find a partner because of her mistakes and he was the one paying for it.

In the short time Ruby had known Mori there was one thing that she was absolutely be sure of, he would make an awesome hero and Huntsmen.

Even though he was amnesiac, he was smart, no matter how matter how much Weiss called him a buffoon, in actual combat Mori was smart, being able to read situations accurately and also making snap decisions, he also had the ability to make calm judgements, such as when he retreated when Weiss and her were arguing, and finally there was his amazing semblance, not only was he as durable as a rock, but he was also super-fast, maybe even faster than her semblance, Ruby did not see Mori at all when he came between her and the Death Stalker, lastly, he was super strong, from what she heard from Team JNPR he threw a Death Stalker with only his strength in the air.

A Death Stalker!

Yang couldn't even lift one up!

Mori was like, the perfect Huntsmen material…and he wouldn't be attending Beacon…and it was her fault…

Was there any way for Mori to still become a Huntsmen?

Maybe he could come next year?

Yeah!

Just because Mori failed today, didn't mean that he wouldn't become a Huntsman, it just means he'll need to wait.

Ruby just needed to get him into Signal. He would easily be the best student there, all Ruby needed to do was convince Uncle Qrow and Dad to let him into Signal for a year, and there they could cover Mori's biggest weaknesses, his lack of weapon.

Then after he trained and gained more skills, he could come back next year and completely ace initiation! Now, how to convince Mori was the next problem-

"Before we finish," Ozpin said interrupting Ruby's schemes on getting Mori to Signal. "Recently there has been… talk on changing certain parts of Beacon traditions,"

Ruby was confused, she wasn't the only one, as the audience and the faculty also seemed to have no idea what was going on.

"Due to the occasional dropouts, injuries, or worse case scenarios death, we've found that teams have had moments where they were not as balanced and missing team members." The headmasters continued ignoring the confused murmurs from the crowd.

Then the headmaster dropped the bombshell.

"In order to solve this problem of sudden unbalanced teams, we have decided to implement a new policy…there will be students who will not be on a team and will only be here in case of a substitute is needed. I should say this won't be common, it will only happen if an individual fit certain conditions." The headmaster announced.

Ruby was initially shocked by this revelation along with everyone else in the crowd. So, there was going to be replacement students?

Wait…does this mean…?

"As of this year only one student from initiation fit the qualifications of this special substitute…" Ozpin continued.

There was only one person in Ruby's mind that could possibly fit the qualifications, Ruby was convinced of it.

"Mori Jin!" Ozpin declared.

YYYYEEEESSSS!

"You failed initiation by being unable to find a partner, normally that would mean you would have to try again next year; however, you still displayed courage on the battlefield, fit the qualifications and with that you shall be accepted into Beacon as a substitute Student! Congratulations! That is all." Ozpin said as he left the podium, Professor Goodwitch following him with a determined look on her face.

Shocked murmurs went through the crowds as everyone tried to get look at Mori, the apparent substitute. Ruby on the other hand was delighted, Mori was still attending Beacon!

As she looked over to her friend to see how he reacted, sure to see him be relieved that he got in. She suddenly froze, seeing another look she had never seen on Mori.

On the outside he looked happy, all smiles and relief, but with how his eyes looked…he was mad, even madder than Weiss ever was.

Ruby wasn't sure that was even possible.

* * *

Ozpin had seen Glynda's anger plenty of times; today, however, she was livid.

"Ozpin!" She yelled as she burst into his office. "What are you doing! Breaking tradition like that and letting him in without a team!"

"Didn't you hear the reasoning for it Glynda?" Ozpin replied. "Sometimes teams--"

"I know what you said Ozpin," Glynda interrupted. "That has never been a problem before and all we've asked is that the students adapt! So…what are you doing?!"

"I felt like it would be quite a shame to not have that boy here this year and it would be a waste of his potential not to get Beacon's education." Ozpin calmly answered.

"So, have him wait next year, that's what we've always done with promising students that fail." Glynda angrily replied. "I can understand why you would want him here because of his strong semblance and believe me I think his feats have been quite impressive."

Glynda continued ranting "When you first let the boy in I thought 'ok the boy is a bit suspicious with no documentation at all but if you think he should be here fine,'" she then stopped to take a breath and continued. " I didn't agree with it but we will see how he does and if he makes it, he makes it… But to change Beacon's traditions entirely just to bring one boy for his semblance…Its…its… madness!"

As the woman finished her tirade, a moment of silence filled the room, a couple seconds passing until Ozpin finally answered back.

"Glynda what would you have me do now?" Ozpin said as he took a sip of coffee. "I've already announced it and the boy is expecting to go to Beacon, would you have me say 'I'm sorry young man, turns out that was lie, you must go now?' Would you do really want me to do that and break the dreams of the poor boy.'"

At that Glynda can only stare in anger as she stormed off.

Ozpin on the hand could only think as he sat back into his chair.

" _So, you think I want him for his semblance Glynda."_

" _That would be true except for one tiny detail that you've seemed to not notice."_

Ozpin then turned on the TV playing videos of Mori's abilities.

" _In his confrontation against Torchwick…against the Beowolves…when he ran faster than the Nevermore… when he instantly appeared in front of Miss Rose to protect her from the Deathstalker… and finally when he threw the Deathstalker in the air… not once …did Mr. Jin use his aura."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd Woof 28


	5. Fitting In.

* * *

* * *

To Yang, being Huntress was awesome, you got to learn how to fight and go on adventures. The only terrible part…was the studying for it… it was the worst. She got why they had to, but it still sucked.

Right now, she was working on the history report that Dr. Oobleck assigned last week. Despite looking like a dumb blonde and being the top student in combat at Signal, Yang wasn't a meathead, she was smart. She had to do well in school or else her dad would be giving her crap every day. Because of that, Yang wasn't really that worried about her grades, if there was any worry for schoolwork it would be for Ruby. Her sister was a bright girl, granted she was a bit unfocused at times, but moving ahead two years had been rough on her.

"You dolt, Goliaths don't exist in Solitas, those are Megoliaths."

"I'm sorry ok! I didn't know there was a difference!"

Looks like Ruby was working on Grimm Studies with Weiss right now. Man, Yang hated that class, she didn't know what Professor Port's semblance was, but she was pretty sure it involved making something awesome into something completely boring.

Still, it was good that Ruby was making an effort in the class. Yang wanted to be the one to help Ruby out, but Ruby needed to branch out more and connect with other people besides Yang. Thankfully, Weiss proved to be quite an effective teacher, helping Ruby really start to catch up for the two years she was behind.

Yang really did not like Weiss at first. When they first met she was bossy, and was mean to her sister. Those were extremely high on her list of things that made her mad.

That first day Yang was tempted to blow the heiress out of the building when she heard that Weiss said Ruby didn't deserve leadership. Like yeah, Ruby was young, and Yang felt it was a bit weird to have her younger sister be team leader, but that girl was going to ruin Ruby's confidence. It was hard enough trying to get Ruby to open up to other people in normal circumstances, the girl had a scythe for a best friend for god's sake…not that there was anything wrong with that.

Thankfully, that wasn't going to be the case as it seemed like whatever issues Weiss had with Ruby were resolved, as the two had been getting along a lot better. She was still bossy, but less mean.

Yang wasn't quite sure what happened, but she didn't care, as long as Weiss treated Ruby nicely, Yang would do the same to Weiss.

While continuing to work on her paper, Yang noticed that there were some facts stuff she was missing.

"Hey, Blake?" Yang called out to her partner.

"Yeah?" Blake casually responded, engrossed in one of her books right now.

"Do you remember what the original landing points on the invasion of Mantle was supposed to be?"

"...I'm not sure, you may want to check the library,"

"Do you want to come with me?" Yang asked, not wanting to go alone

"Nah, I already have my reports done and want to take a break," Blake declined as she turned a page.

Heh, looks like she was reaching a good part in her book. Blake may try to hide it from her team, but it was a well-known fact that the girl was reading smut.

Yang didn't judge, everyone had their hobbies, as long as said hobbies didn't corrupt Ruby, she was fine with them. Granted, they had a couple of close calls, but thankfully Weiss of all people came in the clutch.

"Well I guess I'm going by myself then, don't enjoy yourself too much Blake," Yang teased as she walked out of the room.

"It's not like that!" Her partner responded angrily

"Bye Yang" Ruby cheerfully waved.

"Why did you put a comma there, you're supposed to put a semi-colon," Was all that Weiss said.

"Why does that even make a difference?" Ruby complained back.

Yang could only chuckle as she left to the library.

As she made her way to her destination, all Yang could really think about was her current experience at Beacon so far.

It had been about a month since the school year started at Beacon and Yang was loving it. She was on a team with her sister, and she got to fight strong people, what more can you ask?

Her partner was also cool, she was quiet, but it wasn't because she was shy, she just chose to be silent. When she talked, it was always something that was interesting, that or being snarky.

Sadly all her friends from Signal failed initiation. Thankfully, none of them died, but they did fail in retrieving the relic, and it looked like none of them were able to qualify for the new substitute student criteria. But she was able to make new friends in her team and Team JNPR.

Speaking of the substitute student though, Mori once again shattered Yang's expectations of normal during combat class.

**First day of Combat Class**

"For the second half of combat class we will have one on one matches." Professor Goodwitch announced at the end of her lecture on the syllabus of combat class.

"This will be important for you, as while your main enemy will be the Grimm, fighting others will allow you to sharpen your own skill and give you new insights on how to get better."

Yes, Yang couldn't wait, this was the best part of Beacon, the fighting other strong people, there were plenty of people she wanted to fight, the big prize in her mind was fighting Pyrrha, she couldn't wait to take her on.

"Our first match will be Jaune Arc vs Mori Jin."

Murmurs started to fill the arena, as everyone wanted to see how the newly made substitute student would do.

Apparently, you had to fill special qualifications to qualify, so people were wondering what he had that allowed him to do so. Man were these people in for a treat when Mori shows off his semblance.

Mori was up there as well, in terms of people she wanted to fight…sadly that was not the case for Vomit Boy, sorry Vomit Boy.

Even though she wasn't as bad as her sister Ruby, Yang felt sad when it looked like their strange friend would not make it into Beacon, so hearing that he made it into Beacon as a substitute was awesome!

The substitute student thing was weird, but ever since they met the guy Yang had learned to just live with it. Based on what she had seen so far, his fighting style was pretty raw and he didn't have a weapon, but he made up for that with his amazing semblance, that was the main reason she wanted to fight him, Yang wanted to see if she could actually damage him.

She had to admit, Mori's semblance was probably one of the strongest semblances she had ever encountered, not only was he super durable, but he was also super fast. She did not see him coming when he surprised her during initiation, and she was used to Ruby's speed. Then, apparently, he threw a death stalker in the air! What were the limits of this guy?

There were a couple of a things that Yang thought Ruby was a little naïve on, but she had to agree with her sister's assessment that the dude could become an amazing huntsman if he was properly trained and equipped.

As her two new friends approached the stage, Professor Goodwitch continued her instructions.

"You will fight until one of you surrenders, or your Aura has reached insufficient levels" The Professor then pulled up something on her scroll and displayed it to the class. "On the screen it will display your Aura levels, once it has reached 15% that would be considered critical."

"Now gentlemen, activate your Aura's and when I say start, begin"

And the match between the two friends began.

Or it should have…but Goodwitch never said start,

"Mr. Jin, I know you are only a substitute in this school; however, in my class you are still required to activate your Aura and fight, It is not good to look down on your opponent like that. So, activate your Aura" Professor Goodwitch spoke in annoyed voice.

"Oh, uhh ok… AURA ACTIVATE!" Mori yelled out with a first in the air.

At that everyone in the class started laughing, Yang was on the ground, pounding her first on the floor, Ruby was full out giggling, Blake was just chuckling to herself, and even thou Ice Queen had a disapproving look, you could tell she was stifling a smile. The guy was really screwing with Prof. Goodwitch on the first day of school…that was amazing!

"Mr. Jin," Goodwitch began as she rubbed her head. "While I appreciate the theatrics, I recommend you do not do that in battle, and you also still have not activated your aura,"

"I uhh, don't know how to." Mori sheepishly responded,

"There is no need to know how to do it, you just do it."

"Like do I feel it inside me and pull out?"

"No, you don't; you just activate your aura,"

"So, when you say activate…"

Mori, please…stop; her sides couldn't take it anymore.

"I see you seem to be a fan of detention, Mr. Jin." Prof. Goodwitch was furious as she pulled her scroll on Mori, "The only way you wouldn't know how to activate your aura is if…" Goodwitch's voice suddenly trailed off.

What she said next completely defied everyone's expectations.

"Mr. Jin… You haven't unlocked your aura."

"Uhhm, Yes?"

At that everyone immediately stopped laughing, Yang included.

Wait, did she just say his aura was still locked?

"Uhhm Professor," It was Pyrrha raising her hand, "What do you mean by he hasn't unlocked his aura."

"I am not getting any reading of Aura from Mr. Jin, Miss Nikos, he still has his Aura locked,"

Wait, wait, wait, if he didn't have his aura unlocked that means he shouldn't have a semblance, if he didn't have a semblance that meant—

"What kind of body do you have!" Weiss screamed out, unaware of what she was saying.

Oh, Ice Queen; phrasing was a thing. No one made a comment about it though because people were too shocked at the earlier revelation.

But the heiress had a point, if Mori really had his Aura locked then that meant everything he had done, from his freakish durability, to his speed, and his monstrous strength…that was all with his own physical abilities.

"Can anyone unlock Mr. Jin's aura before we start?" The Professor said as she recovered from the revelation.

"I can do it" Ruby cheerfully cried out as she zipped her way to the boy.

And with that Ruby started her chant.

Once she was finished, she had a confused look on her face.

"Uhhm, did I do that right Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby asked with a confused look on her face. "Because I didn't feel anything?"

"You said it correctly, did you activate your Aura to help unlock his, Miss Rose?" Goodwitch responded slightly annoyed.

"Yeah I did...I think I did."

"Let me do it then,"

And with that Prof. Goodwitch made her attempt to unlock Mori's Aura.

She too had a confused look on her face when she finished.

"Mr. Jin…your aura…I can't seem to unlock it."

And with that the room exploded with sounds as people were talking about Mori not being able to unlock his aura.

"So, should I still fight Jaune then?" Mori asked oblivious to the confusions he was causing.

"No, for now as we try to figure out how to unlock your aura, I'm not going to have you spar." Goodwitch replied.

Just as Mori tried to argue Goodwitch continued.

"Now, I know this may upset you Mr. Jin, but if you don't have an aura we wouldn't be able to properly decide who would win. You'd technically already would be at zero and your opponent would be just hitting away at nothing trying to hurt you. That and if something does hurt you, it may be fatal, so for now we will play it safe and have you wait on sparring."

At that Mori sullenly agreed in defeat and left the stadium with Ruby trying to cheer him up.

"Due to default, Jaune Arc is the winner of this match." Professor Goodwitch declared,

That seemed to set Mori off.

"What!" The boy yelled. "That is not a loss! Get over here Jaune, we are having this match!" He comically shouted as Ruby tried to hold him back.

"Mr. Jin, like I said before, we cannot have you in matches so this will be a win on Mr. Arc's record."

And with that the boy went back to his seat with a dead look on his face.

"I can't believe I lost to Jaune," Mori whined as he sat down.

(Jin Mori Win-Loss Record (on Remnant) O wins 1 loss (default))

**Present**

That was the talk of Beacon for a while, the substitute Huntsmen-in-training who couldn't unlock his Aura. Mori would go to Prof. Peach's office to see what was wrong but so far nothing had popped up.

Just who was Jin Mori?

Like he had his strange moments, but all those could be hand waved with his amazing semblance, except it wasn't a semblance…

Yang couldn't help but shiver though, if Mori combined his amazing physical abilities with aura and then added skill…How much of a monster would he be?

When she first got to know the boy, Yang thought he was nice, but was a little uncomfortable with him because of his background, or lack thereof.

As she got to know him she started to generally like him, he wasn't like most guys around her age, who just wanted to know her because she was hot, he genuinely seemed to be interested in Yang as a person and their friendship had reached the point where they could snark at each other without any hard feelings.

Granted her relationship with Mori wasn't anything as close to as her sister's relationship to him, Ruby dragged the boy around everywhere, from showing him dust shops, to weapons and comics.

To be honest, initially Yang was a bit worried about how close their relationship was. But, now his presence was a relief for Yang, she loved Ruby, more than anything in the world; but, sometimes Yang needed a break and it seemed like Mori seemed to have stepped into the role for watching over Ruby and making sure she was ok.

Mori was definitely better than those boys in Signal that went after Ruby…What? Did people really think that Ruby wasn't popular with boys in Signal? They shared the same genes, of course Ruby would be popular…she was adorable!

The only reason Ruby didn't know about that was because Yang, her dad and Uncle Qrow would have a system where if a boy showed interest in Ruby they would test him, just to see what kind of person he was…they generally failed… but some passed…but then they would just give up because the girl showed more love for weapons then people.

Mori was a good dude; he not only passed the being a good person test, but was also a positive influence on Ruby, as he not only listened to her rambles but offered advice to her as well. Ruby seemed to have toned down her recklessness since meeting him.

As she entered the library, she noticed the subject of her thoughts was there. He seemed to have short-circuited around a mountain of books.

"You look dead, what's up porcupine?" Yang asked she casually walked up to him

"Do you really need to call me that Yang?" He tiredly answered back.

"Of course, I do, it's a way I show affection." She replied with a smile

"You didn't even come up with it!"

"Yeah…but I still like it."

With that Mori could only snort as he went back to the books.

"You working on your history paper right now?" Yang decided to ask

"And Grimm Studies, and Dust Studies, and Aura applications, which is dumb because I don't even have Aura right now." He complained. "But, Dr. Oobleck said, 'Amnesia is not an excuse to not know history,' all I want to do is just sleep though."

Ouch…yeah Ruby had it pretty tough as is, being 2 years behind, Mori was 16…17? Years behind, they weren't quite sure of his exact age. Still, she could not help but feel sorry for her friend. He was sort of just thrust into Beacon without memories, and he didn't even get to do the best part of fighting. But like she said before, Yang liked Mori and wanted to help him out, so what she was going to do next was the least she could do with all the help he'd given Ruby.

"Would you like help with your work?" Yang asked.

"You want to help me with my work?" Mori responded back with a look of skepticism

"Look buddy, I know that look on your face and despite having all this going on for me" She gestured to her body. "I still have this." She then pointed at her head. "I did graduate from Signal at the top of my class. I know, life is unfair, deal with it."

Mori responded at her show of confidence with a chuckle

"If you can help me out that would be great," He replied with a small smile,

"Great, let's see what you're doing wrong." Yang then took a seat next to Mori, looking at his Grimm Studies paper. "You uhh do know that Megoliaths are different than Goliaths right?"

"They're both elephant Grimm! What's the difference?!"

* * *

" _Ahh that was a good read."_ Blake thought to herself as she finished her book. _"It was so satisfying seeing Saru overcome his problems and trust again."_

Blake just finished her recent book and it was absolutely amazing, the plot was great, the characters riveting and the ending just plain satisfying, and no, despite what her partner Yang said, this one was not smut.

Like she'd be dumb enough to pull out a mature book in front of her young team leader. There was a time and place for that, and a 15-year-old that was studying across from you was not the time or place. Granted, Blake had a couple of close calls, but Weiss of all people came in the clutch.

Blake was initially worried about being on a team with a Schnee, and on the first day the heiress her biases were just confirmed, Her bad attitude was probably because she was jealous of the 15-year-old being made into their team leader, but to Blake's surprise she got better and despite the Faunus dislike of the Schnee's she honestly didn't hate Weiss. She felt like a voice reason for the group at times. She liked Ruby and Yang; but, they could be a bit crazy.

Blake's stomach suddenly started to rumble, oops look like she was so engrossed in her book that she forgot to eat.

"I'm going to grab some food in the cafeteria, is there anything you guys want?" Blake asked her teammates while getting off her bed.

"Ohh, strawberry milk and cookies!" The red head excitedly replied.

"I said no cookies until you finish your homework." Weiss butted in.

"But Weiss—"

"nuh uh uh, I don't want to hear it. Remember, we made a deal that you wouldn't get cookies until you finished your homework." Weiss said with a glare in her eyes. "If you are going to be my partner, I refuse to have you be as dumb as the buffoon."

"Don't insult Mori like that, he just has amnesia!" Ruby argued back.

Blake decided to leave before the argument got worse. The two's relationship had improved but there were things Ruby was stubborn with, defending Mori whenever Weiss insulted his intelligence was one of those.

Honestly, Blake found that adorable coming from the girl.

It was just so fun to watch this tiny girl push around a guy that can throw a Death Stalker in the air with just his physical abilities. Honestly, Blake was a little jealous about how close their friendship was. Though there was that moment where they didn't talk to each other for a day because they got into an argument of Bananas vs Strawberries.

Blake couldn't help but shiver remembering that.

Speaking of Mori, he was probably the most confusing person in this school to Blake.

People at Beacon seemed to have a negative opinion on the boy, he was derogatorily called "the replacement" a lot, the name calling got a lot worse when the news of his lack of aura came out. The worst offenders were from that disgrace of a team, Team CRDL. They seemed to have a bone to pick with Mori and also Jaune.

Those people were idiots if they looked down on Mori. They hadn't seen the physical abilities the guy showed during initiation. When he suddenly appeared during initiation, Blake's well-honed instincts couldn't even sense him.

Honestly, it scared her the potential the guy had, if he added any skill and aura, he would be a bigger monster than…him.

Despite her fears of his potential, Blake wasn't quite sure what to think of the boy. When she first heard the story of the boy's amnesia, she thought it was bs. He remembered his name, and the fact that it went last name, given name. Amnesia obviously didn't work like that.

But then there was the first day they went over the Faunus Revolution in History.

He was sitting next to her team leader, when all of a sudden he turned and asked Ruby what a Faunus was. Blake couldn't believe what she was hearing; he didn't know what a Faunus was? That was absolutely absurd. What kind of backwards place was he from? Suddenly, amnesia made a lot more sense, he obviously lost his memory if he didn't know such basic info.

What he said next, really caught her attention. When Ruby said that they were people with animal traits and asked if he'd never seen one before, he responded with:

"Honestly, I thought they were just people,"

Those words really made Blake happy, here was a person that had the mindset that she was trying to strive for, Faunus are just people. At that moment Mori was good in Blakes mind.

…At least it should have, but then she caught a look of him without his shirt on. No, despite what Yang said it wasn't on purpose, and she wasn't trying to peep, it was just that Mori had a whole room to himself and because he didn't have much stuff, he let both Team JNPR and Team RWBY use it for their extra stuff.

The incident in question happened because there was a book that Blake really wanted to read, But the problem was she kept it in his room, obviously it wasn't a smutty one, why would she keep a smutty book in a boy's room?... Except that one time she screwed up.

The problem came from when she went to go grab her book, just as she entered the room and was going through the romance pile, the boy immediately came out of the shower. Now thankfully he was wearing a tower but, there was still a lot that was being shown.

Blake's first thoughts were that he was quite built. She didn't have any interest in the guy, but she could still appreciate what he had going on.

But what really caught her eye, was his scars. His body was covered in them and there was also a massive one on his head that his sleeping mask usually covered.

She would have tried to look for more, but the boy expressed clear discomfort and Blake realized the situation she was in and left quickly with an embarrassed face...She still wanted to read that book.

But those scars really bothered Blake, they were not from accidents, they were scars that came from an intent to kill, she only had seen those of types scars come from one other person. Whatever Mori was… in his past, it involved intense combat.

That should have solidified Blake's opinion that she should be wary of Mori. But then Mori would once again flip her expectations of him when he would prank Weiss, the most infamous being when he replaced her shampoo with green hair dye. It took a while for Team RWBY to calm the Heiress from going on the warpath against him.

It really was quite funny, just no one said it when Weiss was around.

Either way, he was so mysterious, but at the same time, so easy to get along with.

The biggest thing that made Blake worry about Mori though, was that every time he was around her, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Not in the normal way of people gawking at her. The boy was clean and did not seem to have much interest in romance in general.

And it was not because of the shower incident either, because that feeling of discomfort came before that, all that did was make the uncomfortable feeling more awkward.

No, there was just something about Mori that made Blake scared; every time she was around him, her instincts would cry out, run away, don't go near him, and don't piss him off.

She wasn't quite sure what those feeling were, but it was definitely not helping her make her decision on how she felt about the boy.

Just before Blake got to the cafeteria, she walked past the gym. As she was passing through, she noticed that Mori was in there.

Just staring at a punching bag.

Curious at what he was doing, Blake suspended her quest for food and went into the room.

"Hey, what are you up to?" she asked.

"Oh...hey Blake, I was just studying with Yang, when we both got hungry and wanted to get something to eat." He answered back, as his concentration on the punching bag broke. "We had a game of rock paper scissors to decide who would get the food, and well...I'm now the pizza delivery guy."

"So why are you in the gym, just staring at a punching bag?"

"…I honestly don't know…" Was all the response he gave.

An awkward moment of silence filled the gym as the two just shuffled in silence. Then Mori dropped a bomb.

"So…you're a Faunus, right?"

Yeah, of course she was Faunus. Wait…HE KNEW SHE WAS A FAUNUS!

"Wha—" Was all Blake could let out.

"I've been meaning to ask you about it in private, but well…the only time we've been the only people in the room was…" He sheepishly looked to the ground.

UGHH DO NOT BRING THAT UP.

Blake was now in a panic. What should she do? She could lie but that looked like that was not going to work; killing him wasn't an option, not only was it because it was wrong and she was at Beacon to get away from that stuff, but also with the limits of his durability he'd survive pretty easily.

With her limited options, there was only one thing to do…do what she did best…Run Away.

"I'm only asking because I was curious of why you were hiding your ears." He spoke up interrupting Blake's plans for escape.

"How… did you know?" Blake quietly asked after a couple of seconds of silence.

"It is… kind of easy to see," He replied apologetically.

Damn it.

"If it makes you feel better, I don't think many people have noticed, I don't know why though." He quickly added.

What should she tell him? That she was an ex-terrorist hiding to atone for her past? Yeah that answer would work…in getting her thrown into jail.

"Well, the reason why I'm hiding them…It's a long story that I really don't want to get into." Was the answer she decided to give, praying that he would take that.

"OK,"

Wait that worked? Maybe Blake needed to pray more often.

"OK?"

"Yeah, if your uncomfortable talking about it, I won't ask any more, and if you want to keep it a secret, I will respect that." he said. "Well, I'm going to get that pizza, because Yang is going to get mad if I make her wait any longer."

And with that he was gone.

At that Blake could only stare at him as he left. She…didn't need to run away?

That was it?

Loos like there was one more thing to add to her ever confusing feelings on Mori.

Her Stomach suddenly rumbled again, oh shoot she was still hungry.

* * *

Mori groaned as he staggered back into his Room, finally finished with all his schoolwork. Despite what Weiss kept on saying, he was not dumb, he was actually smart. He only got the dumb moniker in high school because he just only focused on main courses and fighting; however, he could not do that here.

Even though he didn't want to be in Beacon, he still needed to learn about Remnant. Based on his research, a way off here was not possible unless he regained his powers, even though Remnant's technology was higher in some ways than Earth, space travel was still far off.

If he was going to be stuck here, he better learn as much as possible. It was just… there was just so, so much to learn, enough to overwhelm him. Thankfully, Yang helped him out today with making it easier to understand, and pointing out the more necessary information, getting rid of what wasn't as needed. It was so helpful that Mori decided he was going to be in charge of the next Ruby sugar rush, to thank her.

Back to the studying though, he initially thought if he could just fail all his classes, he could just flunk out of Beacon. But coasting on the amnesia excuse to fill critical gaps in his knowledge on Remnant would start to lose its effectiveness. That and even if he did fail, Ozpin would probably come up with some BS to keep him here.

That incident with the team ceremony made Mori livid, was the man no longer trying for subtlety?

At least he got his own room though, that was nice. He was sure that Ozpin was going to screw with him and put him on Team RWBY and have him live there.

If that happened, he was sure Brother Bai Jie would rise from the grave, just to cry tears of blood.

As Mori, opened the door to his room and entered, he almost tripped over something lying on the ground.

" _Damn it, Nora,"_ Mori thought to himself, _"If you're going to keep your dumbbells in here, don't keep them near the door."_

Mori didn't have much…obviously, so when he got a whole room to himself, he was done unpacking quickly. The room was bare, like his home on earth.

When he went to go check Team RWBY on the first day after he finished unpacking, he came upon a sight that was just screaming future disaster. It was the girls making the worst bunk beds he had ever seen; they were held up by ropes and books. He had an idea of who's idea those bunk beds were, he just never got around to confronting the red-haired culprit.

Apparently, they were doing that because they didn't have space. So, since Mori didn't want to lose new friends to bunk beds, he offered to let them keep any extra stuff in his room, he also made the same offer to Team JNPR as well.

…That was a big mistake. Suddenly his room that had nothing, was just filled with stuff. Ren and Pyrrha declined but he still had all of Weiss's extra dust and some dresses that she couldn't fit in her room, Yang's music and another wardrobe, Jaune's comic books and video games, Nora's workout equipment, Ruby's cookie stash and her own set of comic books as well, and finally the biggest of them all… Blake's books.

Ahhh Blake, that incident with the shower was his fault, he should have locked the door. Instead, he re-enacted a scene from one of Blake's smutty books.

The girl had the decency to usually not leave her porn in his room, but she once accidentally left one of her more risqué collection. Mori was curious to see what it was about, after reading a couple of lines he immediately closed the book, walked to Team RWBY's room and publicly shamed Blake in front of her teammates for having that filth.

He didn't mind what she read; he just didn't want to see it.

There were also the close calls with Ruby, but Weiss of all people came in the clutch. It made him feel bad about that hair dye prank he pulled on her, not enough to make him regret it, but enough to make him think he could've used a different color.

His relationship with Weiss was a bit of a rollercoaster. He was about to tell the girl off for saying Ruby didn't deserve leadership, in Mori's mind despite his dislike of Ozpin, he made the right choice for the team leaders of RWBY and JNPR. Thankfully, they were able to resolve their issues and Weiss was generally courteous with everyone now. She still insulted him, but her insults had less bite in them now.

He didn't help with all the times that he pranked her. But, he had a good reason, his pranks on her were just to lighten the girl up, she was too tense and strict at times.

Back to Blake though, that recent conversation with her was enlightening. Even though not much was said, Mori was able to confirm a couple of things.

One, that Blake was hiding her identity, because the disguise was pretty poor, he wasn't quite sure if she was or was not hiding, but that conversation confirmed it. Mori didn't really have much room to criticize, considering the giant lie he was living.

Second, she was not a threat. When he mentioned that she was a Faunus it looked like her first instinct was to flee. If she was an enemy, she would've tried to silence him or at least consider it, even though she might have gotten questions if he went missing, there were a lot of viable answers to those questions. The hard part would have been killing him of course. But the girl at least didn't have any fatal intentions towards him or Ruby and Yang. He didn't think she had it in her, based on the past month, but it still was a nice confirmation.

Either way, he didn't really care about Blake's secrets, as long as she didn't harm the sisters and Weiss, he would consider her a friend and respect her privacy.

As he made his way past Jaune's video game plateau, and Mount Ruby's cookies he was finally able to reach his bed.

He then closed his eyes, but his mind did not fall asleep, instead it was thinking of his first month at Beacon.

That first day of combat class was interesting. When Ruby and Goodwitch were unable to unlock his aura, he wasn't surprised.

Based off his readings it seemed like it was a gift for the people on this world, and well…he wasn't part of this world. It may also have to do with the fact that Mori was not whole, it had been a month and he still hadn't been able to use of any of his powers, the gourd was not recovering and Ruyi Jingu Bang was still giving him weight problems. The holy grail really did a work on him.

But honestly, Mori didn't mind not getting an aura. So far, nothing here really seemed to hurt him. The only thing that pissed him off about not having an Aura was that it made him lose to Jaune of all people! Jaune!

His loss record now had Jaune on it! Dammit!

No, no he was over it, he was not going to complain.

Still, it was probably a good thing that he did not have to fight, he could keep his fighting style secret.

Is what he told himself anyways.

It was a new experience being called weak and the replacement. He was so used to being strong and feared. Now everyone looked down on him, he was the boy with no aura in a school of Huntsmen-in-training… the subsitute student. That Team called CRDL really seemed to enjoy rubbing that part in. They were jerks to everyone, but they seemed to focus on Mori and Jaune especially.

Mori did not really care, he just ignored them; Jaune however, was taking it less well. In fact, this whole month he had been struggling in general.

Outside of his win against Mori, _"Dammit",_ he had not won a single match after that. He had been struggling in combat class and school in general. Pyrrha would try to help him. But there was something bugging him, holding him back.

Mori wasn't sure what it was but…Well, Jaune needed to overcome his own problems if he wanted to be strong.

Speaking of the blonde, Jaune had introduced X-Ray & Vav to Mori and he had just finished another volume. Jaune said Mori he could borrow the next one anytime he wanted, and Mori really liked the series.

As he got up from his bed and made his way past Blake's romance genre forest, he headed to Team JNPR's room.

When he knocked on their room, Ren opened the door.

"Hey Mori, what brings you here," The boy asked.

"I'm looking to borrow the next copy of X-Ray and Vav from Jaune, is he here?"

"No, I think he's on the rooftop right now, I think Pyrrha is with him as well."

On the rooftop? Hopefully Jaune was ok.

"Ok, well see you later Ren," As he waved goodbye

"See you Mori," Ren replied back as he then shut the door.

And with that Mori made his way to the rooftop.

Mori liked Ren; he was quiet but thoughtful. Though initially Mori did think that their names shared the same quirk, because his name was Lie Ren and he went by Ren. But no, he just went by his last name. There was something about the boy that Mori felt connected to, but he wasn't sure what it was.

Ren's partner Nora, Mori liked a lot more, she was a bunch of fun, Mori knew if he was ever bored, just find Nora and they'd do something crazy. Like that time they did rocket locker racing. That look of anger on Glynda's face will forever be treasured in Mori's mind.

Mori generally hated school and he still did, and he wanted nothing to do with whatever Ozpin had planned, but his new friends on Remnant were pretty great!

He felt guilty leaving his friends on earth, but hopefully they were doing well and there really wasn't much he can do to help them right now. If he remembered correctly there was something going on with his friend Yoo-Mira, but Daewi probably had it under control… Man did he miss those two…

Either way school had generally been free of drama…except that time Ruby expressed the clearly wrong opinion of Strawberries being the best fruit. He thought she was a friend… but turns out she was the enemy…It took a while for him to forgive her for that.

As he finally got near the rooftop, he noticed Jaune and Pyrrha were talking about something

Well, hopefully it wasn't too serious,

"Hey Jaune, I just finished the late—"

"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests, I didn't earn my spot at this Academy, I am a Fraud!" Jaune bursts out.

"st Volum…This looks important… I think I'll ask later."

Dammit, he had to jinx himself by saying there had been no drama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd  
> Eliad 91  
> Woof28  
> patrician_lurker


	6. What I Want.

* * *

They were surrounded by Grimm, with no way out. But they could not give up, Team RWBY was the last hope of Vale. Her partner Weiss on one side, her teammate Blake on another and her sister Yang having her back like always. Even though the odds looked like they were against them, Ruby knew that they would win.

Why? Because they were the best and the most awesome team of huntresses in Remnant.

*Crash*

An explosion comes from one side, looks like reinforcements had arrived, it was Team JNPR. They were quickly making their way towards Team RWBY in order to provide support. Nora being a force of nature destroying everything, Ren providing support and using his awesome martial arts, Pyrrha just being…Pyrrha, and Jaune sword in hand, commanding the group with ease.

Ruby could only smirk to herself, these Grimm's chances went from small to slim.

*Boom*

Suddenly a second explosion came from the other side of the mass of beasts. Ruby instantly knew that the slim chance the Grimm had before… was now zero.

Mori had arrived, armed with just a staff, once he made his presence known, he got into his fighting stance, just like the one at the dust robbery. Ready to do something awesome Mori instantly unlea—

"You dolt! Wake up!"

A voice cried out, waking Ruby up from her dream…who was that? ... Oh, it's just Weiss… what time was it?

Ruby opened her scroll to check the time…it's so early…Weiss…just why? This had to be revenge for the first day of school.

"It's 6:30 am Weiss, and we just finished our finals, why are you waking me up so early?" Ruby complained trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"Don't you remember we're going to sp…checkout the Vytal festival today." Weiss said correcting herself in the middle.

She was about to say spy, wasn't she?

Ruby couldn't help but groan as she remembered that they did plan on going into Vale today. Getting out of her bed she tried to fully wake up only to slump on the ground…it felt so nice right now. She could just stay there forever…

"Get up! it's bad for you to sleep on the ground," The heiress angrily chided, as she attempted to then wake up the other partnership.

"Wake me up like that again, and I'm going to be the one to turn your hair green." Yang tiredly muttered.

"What was that?!" Weiss quickly turned her around with a scowl on her face.

"Why is it so early I thought we were planning on going in the afternoon?" This time it was Blake who complained, her face still in her pillow.

"Well, even though we planned for our afternoon to be in Vale we still need to do our team practice." The white-haired girl stated with a matter-of-factly attitude.

Ughh, Weiss had a point, looks like it was time to get off the floor.

"I call the bathroom first!" Ruby quickly declared.

"Wait, no—" Yang cried out,

It was too late, as Ruby used her semblance to quickly get into the bathroom. If she was going to be up this early, she at least wanted to have hot water.

After finishing getting ready, Ruby stepped out of the bathroom, Yang then walked in with a tired scowl on her face.

"Ruby so help me, if you used all the hot water,"

"You should be fine, there should still be some left." Ruby said as she dried off her hair.

And with that, Yang entered the bathroom.

knowing how long Yang took to get ready, Ruby had some of free time. After getting dressed, Ruby grabbed her headphones, found her latest comic book and started reading.

"Make sure you don't fall back asleep," Her partner said looking up from her textbook.

Yeah, yeah, she was awake.

However, Ruby was still a little mad at Weiss for interrupting such an awesome dream. It was reaching such a cool part. Even in her dreams, Mori doing something awesome gets interrupted.

Even though the boy still didn't have a weapon, that staff really suited him. When did she start thinking he would be good with one? Oh yeah, it was when they tried to find a weapon for him.

**Beginning of the Semester**

"Mori!" Ruby declared as she slammed her hand on the table. "It's time we get you something that is absolutely critical for you to have,"

"What do I need?" The boy replied, in the middle of eating his lunch.

"Identification?" Pyrrha suggested.

"Maybe a scroll?" Was what Ren brought up.

"A comic book collection!" Jaune said excitedly.

No Jaune, that was not necessary, cool but not necessary.

"A better wardrobe," Yang mocked, Mori then shot her an annoyed look.

"A taste in literature," Blake chipped in as she held up her book.

These ideas were getting worse.

"A brain." Everyone knew who that came from.

Ok Weiss, that was just mean. Mori was not dumb.

"A pet monkey," Nora excitedly cried out. Mori for some reason looked at her with a scared face.

Ok, this needed to stop before it got out of hand.

"No, no, What Mori really needs is a weapon," Ruby spoke, revealing Mori's greatest need.

"I've told you before Ruby—"

"Nope," Ruby interrupted him.

"But I—" He tried to respond back.

"Noope"

"But—"

"Nooope"

"Are you going to let me finish?" Mori asked slightly annoyed.

Ruby thought about it for a while.

"Nope," Was the conclusion she came to as she flashed him a smile.

The look he gave her was all the expression needed to show his feelings about her answer.

Well, looks like it was time to for Ruby use her greatest weapon, her puppy dog eyes. Quickly flashing the cutest look she could muster, she made instant contact with his eyes.

She could feel his will breaking as he was starting to be influenced by her cuteness.

"Fine," He said with a sigh, "We can go to the forge to try out some weapons."

Heh sucker, he still hadn't learned not to make direct eye contact.

"I don't know how you ever say no to her Yang," the broken youth said as he turned to her sister.

"See Mori, the thing is you've gotta st—" Her sister began to start.

Before she could finish Ruby quickly grabbed Mori and dragged him to the weapon forge. It wouldn't be too good if Mori was able to discover how to fight back against her cuteness this early.

A couple of minutes later they arrived at the weapon forge, ready to find Mori a weapon.

"So how are we doing this Ruby?" Mori asked as they started to look at the weapons.

"Well, first thing we've got to do is find a base weapon that suits you." Ruby said as she started zipping around the room gathering all sorts of different weapons. "After we find one that fits you then we can adjust it and update it to make it multi-use."

"…I guess that makes sense," Mori replied.

"Let's try this sword." Ruby said as she finished gathering all the basic weapons in the room. "Now pose for me."

As Mori made a stance with his sword, Ruby couldn't help but feel it fit…but it didn't as well.

"Ok, next one," Ruby then took the weapon out of Mori's hand and threw it to the side, "Now try this Axe."

Again, the weapon felt like it could fit him, but it still wasn't right. So, she immediately threw that one out as well.

It had been a half hour since they started, and each weapon Ruby gave felt like it could work but it wasn't right. They went through claws, gauntlets, rapiers, shotguns, snipers, halberds, tridents, a spear, a trumpet[1], a fan, nun chucks, even a scythe, this one Ruby was really hoping for. She needed as scythe buddy, everyone needed one. It was a disappointment to her that it didn't feel exactly right. Each of the weapons they tried felt like Mori could use and be good with…but none of them felt perfect.

Ruby was thinking to herself as she was deciding what Mori could use as a base weapon.

"Hey Ruby, we've been here for a while, but you keep on rejecting items; are you sure we can find one?" Mori asked as he put down the latest weapon, a bow.

Ruby couldn't help but feel she was missing an item. What were the closest ones that felt right? The spear did, so did the trident, the halberd and scythe were almost there as well, so was the fan. But that last one felt different than the others.

" _Spear, halberd, trident, scythe…"_ Ruby thought to herself, _"What do they all have in common? …OH!"_

Suddenly Ruby connected the dots. She quickly zipped around the forge trying to find the item she thought of.

"Here, try this," Ruby said as she finally found what she was looking for.

"Ruby, this…" Mori said, shocked as he took the weapon from her.

It was a simple staff…and it was absolutely perfect in his hand.

"I think this suits you the most Mori," Ruby stated, happy that she finally found Mori's perfect weapon. "Now let's try to upgrade it and see if we can make it better."

Mori could only look at her with a look of amazement. Looks like he was impressed with her ability to find the perfect weapon for him.

**Present**

And with that they found Mori's perfect weapon…or they should have. Even though it was the right weapon, Ruby couldn't find any real way to design it. She tried making it a part gun, a sword and even a bow. But no matter how much she tried put on it, there was nothing she could really do to make it his own personal weapon. It was like there was something else out there for him.

That staff really suited Mori. Even though it was perfect, they couldn't find the right ideas to make it better. So Ruby just scrapped that and Mori was still weaponless.

"Ruby," Her thoughts were interrupted by Weiss, "Everyone's ready let's go,"

As Team RWBY made their way to the training grounds, Ruby saw Jaune working with Pyrrha on his fighting.

"Hi Jaune, hi Pyrrha" Ruby waved at them,

"Hi Ruby," Jaune waved back.

"Hello" Pyrrha responded as well

"How's he doing?" Ruby asked Pyrrha.

"He's doing great, he has made a lot of improvements," Pyrrha answered putting away her weapon.

"Yeah, I feel like I've been getting better and better with Pyrrha's help and advice." Jaune said with a happy face on him.

"Well Vomit boy looks like you're finally going start getting wins that aren't defaults." Yang joked

"Please stop calling met that," Jaune begged, "and please don't say that around Mori, he is still sour about that, he says he is not, but I can tell he is."

"I'll stop calling you that when you get me a new pair shoes," Yang teased patting his shoulder.

"Jaune's projectile vomiting aside, we still need to go train." Weiss said as she continued to the training ground.

Seeing the look on Jaune's face when Weiss said that made Ruby feel bad. She knew he had the hots for her partner but…knowing them first semester, it would be easier to cut Yang's hair then get those two together.

"Well bye Jaune, bye Pyrrha," Ruby waved goodbye as she also left.

"See yah" They waved goodbye as they went back to their training.

Ruby was happy for Jaune. Ever since his incident with Cardin he had taken a 180 in mentality. Now he was more confident and just plain happier. She was worried for a bit when he basically became Cardin's lap dog but now, he was really starting to improve.

Ruby couldn't wait to see how he'd do in the future.

* * *

"You know what we should do Ren?"

A voice called out to Ren as he was meditating. It was his team leader, Jaune.

"What should we do?" Ren asked as he broke his meditation.

"We should do a boy's night!" Jaune answered Ren's question with excitement.

"Why?" Ren asked with a confused look on his face.

"Ren, what team are we closest with?" Jaune asked with a serious face.

"…Team RWBY," Ren answered, wondering where Jaune was going with this.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh," Jaune said while nodding his head, "And how much of Team RWBY is made of girls."

"Well, all of them," Ren replied.

"And we are the only boys in Team JNPR correct?" Jaune continued with his reasoning.

Ren nodded to Jaune's question.

"So out of our two teams how many are girls and how many are boys?" Jaune asked again.

"…6 girls and 2 boys." Ren answered.

"Actually it's 6 girls and 3 boys," Jaune corrected. "You forgot Mori."

"But he's not on a team," Ren argued back.

"Please, we both know we've adopted him into our teams." Jaune replied with confidence.

Jaune had a point. Even though their friend was a substitute. He spent most of his time hanging out with either team.

Ren didn't mind Mori, actually he quite liked him. There was something about the boy that made him feel a connection with him. The only thing that he didn't really like about him was that he would enable Nora sometimes.

Like the time they made a tower out of books in the library. It wasn't even just a big stack of books. It was architecturally sound with, floors and doors. Ren wasn't even sure how they did that with just books.

The look of anger on Professor Goodwitch's face after that incident was apparently legendary. She spent an hour lecturing them, after she was finished, Blake then stepped in and spent two more hours chastising them on the importance of respecting literature.

Mori was the most enigmatic of the group to Ren. Blake was also mysterious, but she was easy to read as well. But Mori, you could never really tell what he was going to do.

Within the group Ren had separated them into two different categories. Those who used reason most of the time and those who didn't. Himself, Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake were in the former. Jaune, Ruby, Nora, and Yang were in the latter.

It was a perfect balance. Except Mori would tip the scales either way. Sometimes, he would do something dumb like the time he replaced Weiss's dust with sugar during practice. But then he would do stuff like the insightful thing he said to Ren during the first week of school.

**First Week**

Ren was practicing his martial arts going through the motions. Suddenly, Mori walked by looked at him for a bit and just sat down and watched him practice. Ren didn't mind, most people weren't used to seeing Mistralian martial arts.

"Your elbow is sticking out too much." Mori suddenly spoke up, while Ren was continuing through his forms.

"Huh?" Ren said, as his concentration broke.

"Oh, sorry for interrupting you," Mori apologized, covering his mouth.

"No, that's fine," Ren said accepting his apology, "what did you mean by that, though?"

"It was just a thought that passed through my head while you were practicing," Mori explained while rubbing his head. "But I feel like in that stance your elbow is sticking out too much."

Ok…that was weird most people didn't usually comment on his martial arts while he was practicing, unless it was something like "Oh my God, that's so cool."

"I'll leave, so I don't interrupt you again." And with that his strange friend was gone.

Ren could only shrug and he went back through his practice. When he reached the part where Mori interrupted him, Ren decided to just give it a shot just for fun. Reaching that stance Ren put his elbow a little in and struck…that strike felt a lot stronger…How did Mori know?

**Present**

Ever since Mori gave that advice to him, Ren couldn't help but pay more attention to the substitute. As he observed him throughout the year there were a couple of details that were interesting to Ren.

The first one was the way he moved. Most people called him unskilled and needing to learn techniques. But the way he moved was not that of an amateur. Even though Mori had amnesia, his body still seemed to remember whatever lessons it had learned before his memory loss. Whatever he did in his past he was very good at doing it.

Another thing that Ren noticed was Mori's control over the emotions. Because Ren's semblance involved suppressing emotions, Ren became adept at reading people's emotions. Before Jaune fixed whatever was going on between him and Cardin, Team CRDL had a nasty habit of bullying both Mori and Jaune. When they bullied Mori himself, he just ignored it and took it in stride. Whenever they bullied Jaune however, he would still maintain his aloofness, but that was only on the outside. On the inside he would get mad.

The angriest Ren had ever seen Mori was once during lunch. They were eating together when all of a sudden, the noises of Team CRDL bullying a rabbit faunus interrupted them. While the rest of the table could only be abhorred about by their actions, Mori had his head down looking like he didn't care. Despite that, the anger Mori was leaking was so much that Ren used his semblance to try and calm his friend down. The only other people to really notice the boy's anger was Ruby and Nora.

Cafteria aside, Mori was good at masking his emotions. Sometimes you could see his true self, other times It would seem like he would wear a mask. He was so good, Ren sometimes questioned if the boy really had amnesia, but hearing honest questions about basic stuff led to Ren quickly dismissing that theory.

"Well what do you think Ren?" Jaune asked snapping Ren out of his musings.

"Huh?"

"Do you think we should do a boy's night with Mori?" Jaune asked again.

It did sound fun, and Jaune did have a point that they were mostly surrounded by girls and they didn't have much time to themselves.

"Sure, lets do it." Ren agreed.

"Great, let's get Mori on board." And with that Jaune was off.

Ren wasn't exactly sure what happened with Jaune, but ever since their trip to Forever Falls, he had been more confident and more decisive. He also became a bit more reckless as he would do stuff that was not smart, and the reasoning Jaune always gave was "because he wanted to".

Ren didn't mind the change, he actually liked it. Jaune was really having it rough for quite a while. Ren just wished Jaune would tone it down a bit sometimes.

When Ren reached Mori's room it seemed like Jaune had finished his presentation to their friend.

"So…why do you want to do this Jaune?" Mori asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Because I want to," Was the simple answer Jaune gave back.

At this, Mori just nodded

"Ok, lets do it," Mori then turned to Ren, "Looks like it's me, you and Jaune tonight, eh Ren?"

Ren nodded in agreement.

"This is going to be so awesome," Jaune excitedly said, "It's going to be the best night ever."

"Should you guys tell your other teammates that we are doing this tonight?" Mori asked.

"Oh, that's a good idea," Jaune replied "I'll go tell them right now." And with that he was off to Team JNPR's room.

"Are you going to tell Team RWBY that you won't be available tonight," Ren asked Mori.

"Why would I need to tell them that, I'm not on their team." Mori responded with a look of confusion.

All Ren could do was stare at him with a flat face that said, "Really? You don't think a certain redhead with a matching hood, would want to know where you were?"

Mori understood immediately what Ren was implying.

"Ah, I guess I'll probably tell Yang, if I tell Ruby she would probably insist that she join us and then boy's night doesn't become boy's night anymore."

"You know you could say no?" Ren tried to helpfully offer some advice.

At this it was Mori's turn to give Ren a flat face as his said, "You don't think I already tried that? Staring in that girl's eyes just breaks me."

Ahh, fair enough, it was very hard to say no to Ruby, especially for Mori.

"Still though," Mori said, "This boy's night seems like it's going to be a lot of fun,"

"Yes," Ren agreed. "Even though I've been thinking Jaune has made some questionable decisions lately, it's a good idea."

"You know," Mori said as he put his hand on his chin "That may be my fault,"

Ren looked at Mori with eyebrow raised.

"So, you know how the reason he wants to do stuff now is usually 'because I want to'?" Mori asked

Ren nodded.

"So that's something I'd tell Jaune whenever he would feel down." Mori explained, "Well, ever since the Forever Fall trip he has really seemed to take my saying to heart, I don't know how that exactly happened though, because Glynda sent me to detention for that day."

"You mean Prof. Goodwitch," Ren tried to correct.

"Nah, Glynda" Mori stubbornly repeated.

Ignoring his friend's enmity with their professor. What Mori said did make sense, Jaune had a been a lot more open about doing anything really, from sparring against better people, to studying he seemed a lot more eager for a challenge.

"If that's true, then thank you," Ren said honestly meaning it.

"Nah I didn't do anything," Mori replied shrugging off the thanks, "Any improvement Jaune had made was on his own."

"Still though, you did plant the seeds in him."

At that, Mori gave a small smile.

Jaune soon came back looking excited and carrying…bubble wrap?

"I talked with them," Jaune said a bit out of breath, "They are both good with it."

"What's with the bubble wrap Jaune?" Ren asked, confused why his friend brought that item.

"Oh, Nora said that we needed to make sure you were brought back in one piece." Jaune replied

…That didn't make any sense at all.

"Makes sense, makes sense," Mori nodded along with Jaune's reasoning.

Ren could only stare at his brown-haired friend in confusion. Wasn't Mori supposed to be on the side of reason right now?

* * *

Boy's night had been…an adventure, Ren was knocked out on a bench, Mori was covered in alcohol, and Jaune himself, was holding an ice pack to his head. Now that would not be a big problem normally… except the three of them were at the police station stuck in a cell.

"So…" Mori said as he turned to Jaune, "That was an…experience."

"…Yeah…" Was all the response Jaune gave. "If my mom found out I got thrown into a jail she'd ground me for life."

"Ehh, this cell is a lot nicer than the one I was in before; this one has more lighting and less Glynda." Mori shrugged.

Jaune looked at Mori with a confused look, he was in a cell before? Was he friends with a convict?

"Remember Jaune? How I got into Beacon," the spiky haired boy explained. "And I know that look buddy, and that's real hypocritical coming from the guy who faked his transcripts and lied his way to school."

Touché, and oh yeah, Mori did tell him that story.

"So… did you call anyone to bail us out?" Mori asked.

"I called Pyrrha… she should be on her way." Jaune replied.

"You don't think she'll bring Nora, would she?" Mori asked, with a scared voice.

At that thought, Jaune started to shiver, Ren was technically in one piece, right?

"For our sakes, I hope she doesn't," Jaune answered praying inside his partner didn't bring his other teammate.

How did this happen again? Oh yeah it was because Jaune took Mori's advice of doing what he wanted a little too far.

**Few Hours Earlier**

It was going to be a boy's night a to remember, Jaune thought to himself…if they could find out what to do.

Right now, they were in Vale, just standing around.

"So, you said you wanted to do a boy's night, but you have no idea on what to do," Mori said in an unamused tone.

"A severe lack of planning has happened here," Ren deadpanned.

Ok, they were right, but did they have to be so harsh about it?

"Well what do you guys what to do?" Jaune asked trying to figure out how to get this party started.

"Sleep,"

"Meditate,"

Those were the worst ideas Jaune had ever heard.

"Guys, we can do those things in the dorms," Jaune explained "Boy's night should be special."

"We can get something to eat?" Mori suggested

"Apparently, there's this great noodle cart around here." Ren suggested.

"Oh, that sounds good!" Mori said wiping drool off his mouth.

Really, noodles for boy's night? Well it was better than their previous ideas, and Jaune was hungry.

"All right" Jaune said taking command. "First order of boy's night is getting noodles,"

When they got to the noodle cart there was only one other person there. It seemed to be a blonde-haired monkey faunus boy.

"Hey, guys," The blonde stranger suddenly spoke up, "I've been waiting for you guys for a while, I'm going to go on ahead, while you guys eat up," And with that the stranger was gone.

"That was weird," Ren commented,

At this both Mori and Jaune nodded at their friend's comment.

Sitting down, they each got their own bowl of noodles. Jaune had to admit, Ren was right that this was a good noodle spot.

"More please!" Mori said, sticking his bowl out as he finished devoured another bowl.

Man, Jaune really hadn't noticed it before, but Mori had a stomach. The amount of food that guy could eat was impressive.

After finishing their meal, the boys sat back in the chair satisfied with the delicious food. When the owner brought them their bill Jaune couldn't help but notice that something was off with it.

"Uh, excuse me sir?" Jaune asked. "I noticed you charged us for a lot more than what we bought."

"Are you dumb, that's from your other friend." The owner replied.

"What other friend?" Jaune questioned, confused. "We are all here."

Jaune took a look at Mori, he shrugged, and Ren had no answer either.

"That monkey faunus…he told me that he was waiting for his other buddies and to just put it on their tab"

3…2…1…

"THAT BASTARD!" Mori and Jaune simultaneously screamed out, while Ren looked pissed as well.

"Look, we did not know that guy!" Jaune protested.

"Yeah we've never met him before in our lives!" Mori continued in their defense.

"Our group just consists of the three of us," Ren calmly tried to explain.

Their arguments were to no avail though. The owner clearly saw them interact with the stranger and be friendly with him.

"OK! New plans!" Jaune angrily shouted as they left the noodle cart. "WE FIND THAT DIRTY FAUNUS AND GET OUR LIEN BACK!"

"YEAH!" Mori cried out.

"Uhh, Jaune, that sounds really racist," Ren said with a worried look on his face.

Ren had a point, that did sound racist…too bad Jaune was too mad to care.

"I can find him!" Mori said going on all-fours sniffing the ground, after sniffing for a while he seemed to find something and went to it.

"All right Mori!" Jaune cried, following him eager to exact their revenge.

"Are we not going to comment on the fact that he was just on all fours sniffing on the ground," Ren deadpanned.

As long as Mori found the dine and dasher, Jaune did not care how he did it.

When Ren and Jaune finally caught up to Mori, they found the source of their ire already tied up with Mori holding him down.

"Good boy Mori, good boy for finding that bad person." Jaune said as he approached the teen.

"You owe us some Lien for that meal that we just paid for," Jaune angrily accused.

"Did Jaune just treat you like a dog?" Ren asked Mori,

Now was not the time, Ren.

"Look, look I'm sorry ok," the blonde faunus pleaded, "I just got off the boat from Vacuo and had no Lien on me and I was hungry,"

That seemed to have calm down both Jaune and Mori a little bit.

"Ok…we forgive you, but you still have to pay us back, you ate a lot," Jaune said as he looked the teen in the guy.

At that both Mori and Ren nodded in agreement.

"I don't have anything on me right now," The monkey boy bargained "But, I noticed you guys were talking about how you guys were doing a boy's night. There is apparently this awesome place that you guys could go hang out in. If I show you guys, could that make it up?"

At this both Ren and Jaune went into a meeting to decide while Mori continued to hold down their prisoner.

"What do you think Ren?" Jaune asked

"We were trying to find something do," Ren replied, "We could at least check it out."

"Ok, we've decided to take your offer," Jaune said after breaking the huddle with Ren, "Mori are you good with it?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Was the response Mori gave as he let the prisoner get off the ground.

"Uh, are you going to untie me?" Was all the Faunus said back.

"Nah, I don't want to have to chase you down again," Mori answered back.

"We'll let you go free after you show us the place," Jaune continued.

"I really hope we don't get caught on camera doing this." Ren complained.

Oh, shush Ren.

"Well that's fair," their captive said "Well, I'll show you where it's supposed to be, the name's Sun by the way, Sun Wukong,"

When he mentioned his name Mori all of sudden sputtered.

"…Your name is Sun Wukong?" the spiky haired teen asked

"Yup,"

"And you're a Monkey faunus?" Mori asked another question.

Sun checked his tail, "Yup" he answered back.

At this Mori seemed to be silent for a while, with a strange look in his eyes.

"…Hey Ren?" Mori said finally breaking his silence.

"Yes," Ren asked back.

"Can you…hold him for a bit… I… I need to deal with something," Mori said as he gave the rope to Ren.

"…o…k" Ren said as he took control of the captive.

Mori then went off on his own for a while, shouting stuff.

Jaune wasn't exactly what he was shouting about, the only word he could really make out was copyright and lawyers.

"Ok, I'm done," Mori said as he returned with a refreshed face. "Let's go."

And with that the group went to the place that Sun recommended.

When they got to the place destination Sun finally explained what it was.

"I heard this dance club is awesome," Sun said as he showed the club.

"This feels really seedy," Ren said

"I am getting a bad feeling about this," Mori agreed with Ren's sentiments.

Jaune wanted to agree with them, but they still needed to do something for boy's night.

"C'mon guys," Jaune said convincing himself to go in. "Let's go…for the boy's."

"…For the boys…" Mori and Ren said worried.

"Hey since we are here can you untie me?" Sun asked still tied up.

"Oh yeah, Sorry," Jaune said as he directed Mori to untie Sun.

And with that the trio went into the club…plus one.

"Why are you still here" Mori asked Sun.

"You guys seem like a lot of fun, so I think I want to hang out with you guys." Sun replied as he put his hands behind his head.

"Well, do what you want," Jaune and Mori said simultaneously.

Jaune noticed that the place was pretty packed, with a lot of people just dancing around.

Ren seemed to be instantly mesmerized, as he all of sudden went into of the dance floor and started busting some pretty great moves.

"I did not know Ren could dance like that," Mori said impressed by their friend's new-found hobby.

"Dude that guys awesome," Sun said, agreeing with Mori.

"Should we join him?" Jaune asked the two.

"Nah, I'm not much of a dancer" Mori said declining.

"I will," and with that Sun was on the floor

"I think I will stay with you," Jaune said as he decided he didn't want to leave his other friend alone.

It was a shame though, Jaune liked dancing as well.

It was a couple of minutes later when Ren was finally tired and joined the two back.

"Man, you really like dancing don't you Ren," Mori commented with his back against the wall.

"With all my heart," Ren replied sincerely.

"Still this is fun," Jaune said, "Boy's night has been awesome,"

"Outside of Ren, we really haven't done anything," Mori pointed out.

Dang it, Mori was right, Jaune really hadn't done much. What did Jaune want to do?

"You know what you guys should do?" Sun said popping back in. "Have a competition to see who can get the most numbers from the ladies," he suggested putting extra emphasis on the last word.

That sounded dumb, and from the look of Mori and Ren they seemed to agree. Still though, if he could get better at talking with girls, maybe he would have a better chance with Weiss. Ok, that seemed like something that Jaune wanted to do so he was going to do it.

"Ok," Jaune said, shocking both Mori and Ren. "I'll do it."

"Jaune, why?" Mori asked with a confused look on his face.

"Look guys, unlike you two I don't have a girlfriend," Jaune said as he tried to convince himself to do it. "I at least want to get better at talking to a girl."

"I don't have a girlfriend,"

"Jaune, we've told you this before, we are together, but not together-together."

"Well, I at least I want a cute girl to be able to talk to regularly," Jaune said jealous of his friends' relationships.

At this Mori seemed to pause with a confused face, he tried to say something, but he kept on hesitating.

"Jaune… you do know that Pyr—" Mori tried to speak, but all of a sudden, Ren covered his mouth.

"Mori, Jaune needs to figure that out on his own" Ren quickly said.

Ok…That was weird, either way Jaune was going to get a girl's number.

Quickly finding someone sitting alone Jaune made his way, to the girl.

"Hey," Jaune started trying to go with the best voice he could "The name's Jaune Arc, short, sweet, ladies love it."

Just before the girl was about to answer a voice spoke up behind Jaune.

"Hey!"

Jaune turned around, it was a pretty big guy.

"You're talking with my girl,"

Before Jaune could really respond, the guy suddenly lifted Jaune up and threw him into another person.

It was another big guy he got thrown into.

Suddenly, a huge brawl suddenly broke out in the club.

It was complete chaos…Mori and Ren tried to make their way to Jaune but suddenly someone threw a barrel of Alcohol that broke on Mori.

He was fine per usual…Ren wasn't though, as he suddenly got really tipsy, all of sudden Ren started busting martial arts on everyone as everyone in the club tried to take him on. It was a massacre…by Ren.

**Present**

"Who knew Ren was that bad with alcohol," Mori said head in his hands.

"…Yeah…" Was all that Jaune could say as his head was also in his hands.

Ren was still out cold on the bench.

Seriously, Ren only got a whiff of it and he destroyed the place. Thankfully, the cops arrived, finally calming things down. Unfortunately, they arrested everyone involved the fight and now they were stuck in the slammer.

Sun seemed to have abandoned them as well. Honestly, with how the night had went Jaune didn't really care anymore.

"So…why did you do that again?" Mori asked

"Because I wanted to?" Jaune replied, trying to convince himself.

At that Mori gave him a look that said he didn't believe him.

"Speaking of which," Mori started up, "What happened in Forever Fall, that made you use that phrase more?"

"Did I never tell you?" Jaune asked

"No," Mori answered back.

"Well…"

**Forever Fall a couple weeks back.**

Jaune couldn't believe what he was hearing from Cardin,

"You want me to what?" Jaune asked.

"You heard me Jauney boy," Cardin began, "Throw this sap on Nikos or I will tell Goodwitch about your little secret and you will be out of here like that." he finished while snapping his fingers.

Jaune and his stupid mouth, he just had to say his secret while Cardin was listening in. These past few weeks had been hell for Jaune, from doing Team CRDL's homework to being their lapdog, all so he could still stay in Beacon. He even gathered all those rapier wasps those jerks were going to use against Pyrrha.

Why couldn't he keep his mouth shut… Oh yeah it was the incredible guilt from being one of the worst students. He did not deserve his spot. He took the spot from his close friend Mori. If Mori didn't gotten lucky with the substitute student, he wouldn't be at Beacon right now…it sickened Jaune that he was so weak and underserving while his friend deserved it more.

The worst part was when he explained what happened to Mori, and his lies, instead of being angry and telling on him, Mori instead stood up, turned his back and said, "Jaune you belong here…Just do what you want." And then he left.

" _Just do what you want,"_ Why did Mori keep on saying that to him. He was doing what he wanted. He was a Huntsman-in-training at Beacon and following his dreams. So…why was following his dreams causing him so much pain.

"So, Jauney boy," Cardin interrupted Jaune's internal anguish. "Are you going to do it or is this is the last time we will see each other."

Cardin then handed Jaune the tree sap they gathered.

Jaune steeled himself as he prepared himself to throw the sap at his partner. He was doing what he wanted, this was the only way he could still follow his dream if he didn't throw this, he wouldn't be able to do what he wanted anymore…Was that what he really wanted?

Jaune suddenly remembered all the kindness Pyrrha had shown him from trying to teach him how to fight, to trying to help him study. In fact, all of his friends had shown him so much support. Ruby encouraging him the night before, Ren and Nora trying to cheer him up. Mori hanging out with Jaune and not being angry. Was following his dream really worth hurting his friends?

"No," Jaune said as he lowered his arm,

"No?" Cardin repeated back, "You do know what this means right?"

"I do," Jaune said with a determined voice.

Suddenly deciding to something he would probably regret, but it was something he really wanted to do. He threw the jar of sap at Cardin.

*shatter*

"Oh," Cardin suddenly started laughing covered in sap, "You've done it now,"

Jaune could feel his arms locked by Dove and Sky.

He didn't care he was doing what he wanted…he hoped.

It had been a couple of minutes since Cardin started beating up Jaune, the bully was taunting him the entire time trying to make him bend, but Jaune didn't care all he wanted was that he left his team and friends alone.

Just as Cardin threw another punch, Jaune suddenly felt his aura activate healing his wounds.

" _Wow,"_ Jaune thought to himself. as he got up, _"Aura is amazing!"_

He suddenly was on the ground again as one of Team CRDL pushed back down. When he looked up, he could only feel his stomach drop. It wasn't from Cardin. No, it was the giant Grimm entering the clearing.

"That's a big Ursa" Russell shouted as he, Dove, and Sky ran away.

Jaune had to agree that it was quite the big monster.

Just as Cardin got his weapon out to defend himself, the monster swiped it away from Cardin's grasp.

Jaune could only gasp at the size of the thing. It was so scary, if he took that thing on, he would surely die. As he was starting to think about running away, he caught Cardin's look of fear, as the beast made it's way towards the bully.

Should he save him? No, Cardin had been a bully and been the reason for Jaune's hell these past few weeks, good riddance, and besides all Jaune would be good for would be dying.

As he picked up Crocea Mors and started to get away, once again Mori's voice rang in his ears. _"Just do what you want," …_ Was that what Jaune really wanted? …Did he want Cardin to die?…

Yelling out a war cry, Jaune immediately blocked the Bear Grimm's claw with his shield.

" _Stupid Mori,"_ Jaune thought to himself as he tried to stop the bears force with his weapon, _"Why do you have to constantly say that, is that like your motto or something?"_

Jaune immediately broke from his conflict with the bear. After creating some distance, the Grimm started to set itself up for another attack.

Jaune was scared out of his mind right now, he was going to die…but he didn't care. Right now, Jaune was doing what he wanted. He was protecting someone that needed help, it didn't matter who it was.

Jaune immediately started what was likely his last charge.

As he attempted his swing, he could feel his stance slightly change as he sliced through the Grimm…killing it…Jaune couldn't believe it… he actually killed a Grimm!

"WOOHOO!" Jaune yelled out to the Heavens.

After shouting for a couple of seconds, Jaune took a look to make sure Cardin was ok. After making sure he was, Jaune then walked over to Cardin and gave him his hand. There was one more thing Jaune wanted to do.

Jaune immediately tightened his grip and looked Cardin straight in the eyes.

"I don't care if you tell on me or not… But, don't ever mess with my team and my friends ever again." Jaune immediately let go. "Got it?"

Cardin's nod seemed to have meant he got the message

**Present**

Ever since that incident, Jaune had tried to live by doing what he wanted. He even told Ozpin his lie. To Jaune's surprise the headmaster didn't expel him and instead just had him do a couple of detentions as punishment.

Doing what he wanted was great, he felt better about himself and he felt challenges exciting.

So why was he feeling like crap for doing what he wanted right now?

"So, that's what happened," Mori said while stroking his chin.

"Yeah...I took your advice of doing what I wanted, and life seems to have worked out for me…except tonight," Jaune added on

"Except for tonight," Mori nodded in agreement.

"I did what I wanted," Jaune said as he sat on the bench, "So why do I feel so terrible right now,"

There was a couple of seconds of silence between the two.

"You know, Jaune," Mori spoke up, "I think it's good you've decided you want to do what you want now…. Here's the next step, and you already have some experience with it, but…you need to learn if what you want is truly what you want."

" _What…"_ Jaune thought to himself, _"Mori for once in your life make sense please."_

"Mori what do you mean by that?" Jaune asked trying to make sense of his friend's vague words.

"You'll figure it out," Mori replied with a smile.

" _Or you could explain it to me right now."_ Jaune thought to himself.

Before Jaune could vocalize his thoughts, the guard suddenly appeared to the trio.

"Are you guys, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, and Mori Jin?" The guard asked.

At that, the two nodded.

"Your friends are outside to pick you up."

Ren was still out, so Jaune grabbed one side and Mori grabbed the other and they made their way to the entrance.

"Wait," Mori asked stopping all of a sudden, "Did that guard say friends?"

" _Oh no,"_

Hopefully, that didn't mean what they thought it meant.

When they got their Pyrrha was there with a worried look on her face…along with Nora who had the scariest smile they had ever seen.

"Uhhm, he's still in one piece," Jaune said hoping to somewhat make things better.

The look she gave didn't fare well for their chances.

* * *

It had been about another hour after Pyrrha and Nora bailed them out. Pyrrha spent the hour lecturing Mori and Jaune about not doing reckless things. When it was Nora's turn, Mori and Jaune were feeling worried about their legs. Mori less so, he knew that Nora wouldn't be able to really hurt him, but it was the intent that mattered.

Just as the two closed their eyes, they suddenly felt a warm feeling around them. It was Nora giving them a hug.

"I'm just glad you guys are ok," she said with a soft voice, "…But, seriously never go into a place with alcohol with Ren again, he's terrible with that stuff." she finished as she gave them the scariest look she had in her arsenal

"We know," Mori and Jaune said simultaneously, both trembling from Nora's face.

After that Mori was finally free. Instead of heading back to his room, he instead decided to go to his favorite spot in Beacon, the rooftop.

Getting to his spot on the rooftop Mori, relaxed and just stared at the broken moon.

The first semester at Beacon had already finished and Mori was able to pass all of his classes. Yang's help had been tremendous. She was able to help him get rid of all the unimportant stuff and learn the basic knowledge needed for class. It was a lot more efficient, and he didn't need to use as much energy to study.

Ironically, the worst class he had was combat class, Mori still hadn't fought since Ragnarök, he could feel his skills deteriorating from the lack of practice and the fact his body was not what it was…but if he used Renewal Taekwondo his cover would be blown.

That's what he told himself anyways.

He couldn't fight, because Goodwitch really underestimated the durability of his body, but she did have a point that the lack of aura would make it harder for his opponent, because they wouldn't have a win goal. If this was actual combat it wouldn't matter, but the purpose of a spar was to get better and aura was the parameters for spars here.

Mori did not care about not being able to fight.

He did not have any urges to join in while they were in the middle of awesome combat.

He did not make an impatient knee motion, whenever they did something that could be corrected on.

He especially did not feel his heart beat rapidly watching his friends improve and grow stronger, especially Jaune.

That is what he told himself anyways.

Jaune's growth though, had been tremendous, the difference between him at the start of Beacon and now was night and day.

Knowing the circumstances in Jaune's change, Mori couldn't help but feel proud of his blonde friend. Jaune had gained the strength to do what he wanted to do. He was learning that the only way to get stronger was to face strong people. He was enjoying his matches even though he would eventually lose. Those losses were fine, each loss made the blonde stronger, Mori estimated it would probably be another 2-3 spars before he finally got a legitimate win. _"DAMMIT!"_

Mori couldn't help but feel jealous of Jaune's growth. Especially, because how much Mori was stagnating. All the strength he had accumulated during his two lifetimes had been taken away from him.

" _Jaune, you are amazing"_ Mori thought to himself as he held his hand out, _"Keep growing, and getting better and better, eventually you will be able to reach the ideal that you want for yourself. You are strong and you are doing what you want…unlike me who is just runn-"_

*Bam*

"Mori, I found you!" A voice yelled out interrupting Mori's musings,

It was Ruby panting with a worried look.

Mori was wondering what she was worried about, it seemed serious.

"We need your help, Blake ra—"Ruby suddenly stopped sniffing the air "Why do you smell like Uncle Qrow?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you guys think? How do you like the story so far.  
> BETA's  
> Woof28  
> Eliad91


	7. Return

* * *

"…So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am. A criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow."

And with that, Blake had finished telling her story to Sun, the monkey faunus that had been with her while she was hiding. She told him about her origins in the White Fang; when it was peaceful, to the degeneration of its values, and her eventually deciding that she hated its current philosophies and leaving.

All Blake ever wanted to do in her life was make a change. She thought she could achieve that with the White Fang, and she did. Faunus were being treated better, but she couldn't agree with the path of violence taken to achieve that.

But her desire to change the world had remained the same. That was why she was at Beacon, she wanted to be a Huntress and to help people. Even though Blake thought her team leader Ruby had naïve ideals, they were ideals Blake could relate to.

"So…have you told your friends about this?" Sun asked as he finally took in all the story that Blake told him.

Blake looked down in shame. If she had, she wouldn't be here right now. She'd probably be in jail…especially knowing how much Weiss hated the White Fang. She couldn't blame her. As Blake had gotten to know Weiss, the heiress wasn't as bad as the rumors of her said. It seemed like most of the faunus problems with the Schnee came from her hated father.

"Nope…if she had, she wouldn't be talking with you right now, she'd still be with them." A voice behind Blake spoke up.

In shock, Blake quickly turned her around to the source, she knew that voice…

"Mori!"

"Oh crap, you're the guy that tied me up!"

At that, Blake turned her head back to Sun with a confused look on her face.

"So that's why you were hiding your identity," Mori said, as he waved hello to Blake, he then turned to Sun, "And I don't know what you're talking about, I spent my entire Friday night in my room."

"What are you talking about?" Sun asked confused "I clearly remember, that you were at that cl—"

"No-thing happened Friday night," Mori repeated slowly, with a serious voice. "I spent the entire night in my room, Jaune didn't start a massive brawl and Ren didn't destroy a club."

That was oddly specific, it seems like Mori and Sun had some experience with each other.

Right now, though, there were more important things to figure out.

"How did you find me?" Blake asked.

"I followed your scent." Mori answered with a straight look.

"You…followed…my scent?" Blake repeated back confused as she lifted her arm to smell herself.

She took a bath this morning, right?

"Oh, so that's how you found me after I left you guys with the bill," Sun replied as he pounded his fist into his hand, "I thought that was really weird."

"I don't know what you're talking about Sun," Mori replied with a smile. "This is the first time I've met you."

"BS you just called me by my name," Sun yelled back.

"We have never met before," Mori stated in a serious voice.

Ok, this was getting stupid.

"Did you call anyone else?" Blake interrupted before Sun could argue again.

"No, I found you by myself, I haven't called because I figured there was a reason you ran away…" Mori replied, his face then turned serious. "Your team is seriously worried about you Blake; you've been missing for 2 days."

"All of them?" Blake replied with an unbelieving look, "They all were worrying about me, none of them wanted to throw me in jail."

"…Well…" Mori tried to answer, "I'm sure she'll come around, you did kind of just drop that on them. Just call them and you'll see, and besides jails not that bad."

"So, you do admit that night happened!" Sun accused.

"I'm not sure what you are talking about Sun," Mori answered back. "I was just in my room sleeping."

"Mori," Blake said as she put her hand on his shoulder ignoring the antics of the two, "Thank you, for keeping my secret all this time, but these are my problems and I need to resolve them myself."

"…If that's what you want…" Mori sullenly replied.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Sun asked.

"I really don't think the White Fang is behind these recent dust robberies." Blake said putting her hand on her chin. "It really doesn't do anything to help spread the message of Faunus equality."

"So, who do you think it is?" Mori questioned.

"…Mori I've heard this story from Ruby before, but I just want to confirm it." Blake said turning towards the spiky-haired youth. "But the robbery you were at, that involved that criminal Roman Torchwick right?"

"Is Roman that orange haired guy that wears too much mascara?" Mori asked back.

"…Yes?" Blake answered.

"Then yes," Mori replied.

"Ok...At the robbery did he steal anything involving dust?"

"All he did was steal dust."

Perfect, Blake now had a suspect.

"...There is one more thing I want to check out before I make any conclusions," She announced. "I have info from a source that says there's a large Schnee dust shipment coming in tonight at the harbor. I'm going to go check out the place where it's docking, and prove the Fang are innocent…of at least the dust robberies."

"Let me come with you; it will be dangerous" Sun said as a big smile suddenly crossed his face, "You've told me about yourself but now I'm going to introduce myself. The name is Sun-Wukong, a huntsman-in-training from Haven Academy. Along with my weapons Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang we'll be able to provide you support."

"Blake that sounds incredibly…" Mori started, before getting distracted by something. "…Wait …Sun, you call your weapons Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang?"

"Yeah, why?" The Monkey faunus asked back.

"…No reason…that's not important right now." Mori then turned his attention back to Blake. "But I was going to say, that sounds incredibly dangerous if you are going to do that, at least call your team."

Mori had a point her teammates would be able to help her out here…but, Blake didn't want to involve them any further than she had to. She needed to resolve this herself.

"No," She said to Mori.

"But-" Mori tried to answer.

"I want to resolve this myself Mori," Blake said, "In fact, I don't want you to come either, you don't need to be concerned with my problems."

"I'll be fine on my own." Mori tried to argue back.

"I know you have a pretty durable body; however, this could be dangerous and if we get overwhelmed, I won't be able to help you." Blake said then she looked Mori in the eyes. "These aren't Grimm Mori, these are people, they aren't mindless, you won't be able to be much help, especially with your lack of skill."

"But—" Mori again tried to argue.

"I don't know why you are so concerned about me Mori." Blake said as she turned around, "We've only known each other for a couple of months, and we are just classmates not even teammates."

At that Mori fell silent.

"Come on Sun," Blake said now turning to the other faunus, "We should check it out, before it gets late…and Mori if you really want to help me out, don't tell my team where I'm going."

And with those final words Blake and Sun left, leaving Mori behind.

"Wow," Sun said. "That was really harsh to say to your friend."

"It's fine," Blake said trying to convince herself. "You may not know it, but he has no aura, he has a lot of potential though, but it's just that potential…I don't want to get him involved and get hurt because of my mistakes…I already have enough blood on my hands that haunts me."

"I feel like he'd be fine actually," Sun replied, "There's something about him that makes me say this guy is awesome…that never happens that fast."

"Well I don't want to get him involved." Blake said as she continued her way. "Besides that's not important, all that matters is we get to the bottom of this."

Blake was really hoping that the White Fang wasn't going to be at the docks but…what would she do if they were?

" _Hopefully, I don't have to make that decision."_

* * *

"Blake! ...Blake!",

"Uhm, Nora she is not going to be in the trap can" a voice commented above as Nora popped out of the trash can. It was her best friend Ren.

"You don't know that Ren," Nora replied with a bubbly voice. "She could be hiding anywhere." Her voice turning serious.

At Ren's silence Nora knew that she won.

Right now, Team JNPR were on a Blake hunt. Pyrrha and Jaune were on one side of the city while Nora and her best friend Ren were on the other. Apparently, Blake was a faunus…who knew? Nora always thought she wore cat ears for fun.

Still, Nora could not help but worry about the girl. Blake was always more sullen, and on the silent side when they did stuff together with Team RWBY. But apparently her secret getting out was bad enough to run away?

Nora quite liked the group dynamic that had developed at Beacon. Jaune, her leader was awesome especially more so now that the burden he had over his shoulders was gone, Pyrrha was amazing and Nora always enjoyed training with her, Ren was still Ren. Ruby's enthusiasm along with her innocence and Yang's energy and adventurous spirit was stuff Nora could relate too. Then Weiss's sass and Blake's snark balanced those two out.

It was quite the perfect group dynamic. Made even better by her best-guy-that's-not-Ren friend in Mori. Nora knew whenever she wanted to do something fun, she could just find Mori and they could find something to do together. Like the time that they tested how much dust it could take to launch a desk across campus. Professor Goodwitch was not happy about that one.

Either way, the balance was in danger right now with Blake running away and Nora didn't want to lose that. Beacon had become a home to her, and she now had more family than ever, it wasn't just Ren anymore. Not that she didn't mind that it was just Ren. They had been together for so long after all.

Just together though, not together-together.

"Blake, Blake!" Nora continuously cried out.

"Nora," Ren stated tiredly, "If she ran away, I don't think she'll come to us if we call to her."

"Nonsense Ren," Nora argued back, "She's just lost, if we call out to her, she will find us."

At Ren's silence Nora knew she once again won.

It had been a couple hours later, and it was starting to get late, and they still had not found Blake. It had been two days so far, where was she?

Nora was starting to feel really worried about her friend…would she be ok?

"Nora it's getting late right now we should head back, it's getting really late." Ren said as he put as hand on Nora's shoulder.

"But… Blake?" Nora said as she looked at Ren.

"She will be fine, she is a huntress-in-training after all," Ren replied with reason.

This time Ren had won their contest of reasoning. Blake would be fine probably, Nora just wished things would go back to normal and their little Beacon family could be whole again.

When they got back to Beacon, only Mori had returned from his search.

"Any Luck?" Ren asked Mori.

"I wasn't able to find…anything…" Mori answered back as he trailed off.

At this Nora had a feeling there was something wrong.

During her lifetime Nora had prided herself on the ability to feel emotions. Ren may be able to suppress them with his Semblance, but because of how much time she had spent with him she was able to tell whenever someone was trying to hide their own negative emotions.

Right now, something was bothering Mori, more than usual anyways.

In their little circle Nora put each of them in their own roles. Pyrrha and Nora would be the motherly ones while the other 6 on the teams were like kids that needed to be taken care of. Yang occasionally would take the motherly role whenever Ruby was involved. Mori, however, wasn't really someone that needed to be taken care of. In fact, Nora put him as the big brother of the group. Anytime someone needed help or advice Mori would always be there for them.

It was most obvious with Ruby, with his constant doting over her. He was constantly making sure she was ok, trying to curb her reckless tendencies and just always listening to her whenever the girl would go on her tangents.

But just because he was closest to Ruby didn't mean he did not pay attention to the rest of their family. Like Yang, when she lost to Pyrrha in her spar, even though she was smiling and saying it was a great fight, Nora could tell when she was frustrated. When she went to go to cheer her up. Mori beat her to the punch literally, when she got there to cheer her up, Yang straight up punched Mori, he took it because he was a beast that didn't get hurt, but based off what Nora saw, he was helping getting the blonde girl's anger out of her.

Then there were all the times he helped Weiss. Whenever Weiss would reach the breaking point with her partner, Mori would instantly be there and take Ruby off her hands for a while, just enough so that she could cool down. Then there was the fact that whenever he pranked Weiss, Nora noticed that he would always do it whenever the girl was starting to feel too stressed and it helped Weiss get her mind off things.

Blake, he respected her privacy and he gladly kept her entire library of books in his room, and Jaune's improvement was because Mori kept on believing and encouraging her team leader.

Mori was incredibly kind, and he did it in ways that was hard for their other friends to notice. He was a good person, no matter if he was faking amnesia.

…That's right, Nora knew that Mori was faking his amnesia. How could she tell? Her other friends had suspicions. But they all got duped into thinking it was true whenever he would sincerely ask his questions that anyone should know. Even Nora would've believed it, if it wasn't for one tiny fact.

No one that had no memory of their past should feel that sad.

Ren could feel whenever he was angry; however, Nora could feel whenever Mori was feeling sad.

The first time she saw his sadness was when she saw Mori watch Ren practice his martial arts.

Then there would be the times he was feeling sad whenever he watched people fight, whenever Ruby and Yang were acting like sisters, whenever Jaune improved. Each of those moments, Nora could feel his sadness rolling off him.

The worst times he was feeling sad, was whenever he was in the gym just staring at the punching bag. Whenever he did that, Nora knew she needed to do something crazy with him to make him feel better.

Like she said before, it didn't matter what questions Mori asked, there was probably a good reason for them. However, his sorrow could not come from someone who had no memories.

It was sorrow coming from loss. If you had nothing to lose, you wouldn't feel sad about it. Nora knew that feeling more than anyone because both she and Ren had experienced that same sorrow.

She didn't care that he was lying about his memories, he probably had his reasons for doing so and deep-down Nora knew Mori was a good person, so she didn't have to worry about him.

But right now, something seemed to be bugging Mori, whatever it was, it looked he didn't want to talk about it.

Well, it looks like it was the first time for Mori to meet Mama Nora.

"Ren, I'm hungry, can you make some pancakes?" Nora said turning towards her friend.

"Nora wha—" Ren tried to say.

"Pancakes now!" Nora interrupted him.

And with that, Ren was gone.

"Pancakes do sound good," Mori said, as it looked like he was trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.

Oh no Mister, you're not changing the conversation, though he was right, pancakes did sound really good.

"What's up Mori? Nora asked before she got too deep into the thought of pancakes, "You seem like something is bugging you."

"Oh, nothing, it's fine." He replied back.

Nora knew that was a lie, there was something up with him right now.

"Oh, I was just wondering because I'm really worried Blake right now and I was wondering if felt the same" Nora said as she continued the conversation.

"I think she'll be fine; besides, she ran off on her own, so she probably doesn't want us to look after her. I'm not too worried for her she is just a classmate after all." Mori answered

Nora could tell that was not true, Mori's conflict within him seemed like it was reaching a breaking point. What could she do to help him?

…There was that…

"You know Mori," Nora started, "Did I ever tell you about my childhood,"

Mori nodded no. Of course, he would, she kept this to herself, because the memories were too painful, however, Mori needed this.

"I used to live in this place called Kuroyuri…I was an orphan." Nora said bitterly remembering her experience there. "Certain…circumstances forced me and Ren to be together and for a while, it was Ren and Nora vs the World! …we were basically family…because that's all we had."

"…I'm sorry," Mori answered with a somber look.

"You don't have to be sorry, Mori," Nora replied back. "There's a reason I'm telling you this."

Mori then gave Nora a questioning look.

"Ever since we've been at Beacon it has seemed like I've added to my family!" Nora continued. "I consider all of you guys family, my team, Team RWBY and even you Mori."

"But you've only known me for a couple of months, and besides, aren't we just classmates?!" Mori answered back with a confused look on his face.

"So?" Nora refuted, "Whenever a baby is born parents don't wait to love it, once it comes to them they love it immediately…that's… you guys…ever since the school year has started I've loved being around you guys and to me that's family. Outside of Ren, I've never really had one…and I don't want to lose this one, not a single person…"

A moment of silence filled the air as it looked like Mori was digesting what Nora said.

"Mori," Nora said grabbing his hands and then looked into his eyes, "You know, you may say we are just classmates and you don't care… but to me you're a terrible liar."

At that, a light that Nora had never seen before on Mori seemed to glow in his eyes, as he suddenly turned away and started to run.

Nora knew whatever she said, had an effect.

"Nora, how many panc-" Ren returned stopping in the middle of his sentence, "Where's Mori?"

"Don't worry, he's doing whatever he needs too right now," Nora answered back. "And I want ten of them."

* * *

" _The docks where is the docks?"_ Mori was thinking to himself as he continued to run. _"Dammit I don't know where anything is."_

Right now, Mori was desperately trying to find the stupid docks that Blake was going to recklessly check out. Knowing the luck that he had she was going to be in serious trouble. Seriously why couldn't she just call for help.

"Aggh, why didn't I ask Blake what docks she was going!" Mori screamed to himself putting his head between his hands.

*Boom*

A loud explosion occurred as Mori turned to look to the source.

That was probably the location of the docks.

Suddenly his scroll that he got from Ruby and Yang started ringing, Mori took a look at who it was…it was Ruby.

"Mori," Ruby cried out in a panic, "there's an explosion at the docks, I think Blake may be there, she may be in trouble, I'm going to go check it out."

"Ruby wai—" Mori tried to respond but it was too late, Ruby turned off her Scroll.

" _Dammit Ruby,"_ Mori thought to himself _, "Why do you have to be so reckless."_

The girl had gotten better with curbing her recklessness, but when it came to helping people out it still was there.

As he continued to make his ways to the docks, all he could think about was Nora's words to him.

Right now, Jin Mori had been living a lie. The reason why he was at Beacon… a lie. His amnesia … a huge lie…his friendship with everyone…based on a lie. Ever since he had arrived in Remnant, Mori had just been lying. But Nora was right…he was a terrible liar…especially to himself.

He pranked Weiss because he enjoyed it, not because he was trying to loosen her up, though he did time it for when she needed to let out stress.

He did get bothered when he saw Team CRDL bullying that Rabbit Faunus during lunch.

He was still pissed about that loss to Jaune _"Dammit"._

He did get upset when Goodwitch said he couldn't fight.

He was pissed that people kept on looking down on him.

He thought Blake was being stupid trying to do this on her own.

But the biggest lie of all he was why he would not use his Renewal Taekwondo or any of his martial arts.

He gave the excuses of they weren't worth the effort, the skill level was too low, he was hiding his power from Ozpin, his body was a wreck, etc.

All those reasons were a lie.

The real reason why he had not used it? …It hurt too much. Whenever he went through the stances and techniques, the memory of his grandpa would keep on haunting Mori's mind.

He could remember his grandpa first teaching him the basic stance.

When he performed his first kick Mori could remember his grandfather's happy face.

When Mori finally learned how to do the Bo-Bup step, he could remember his grandpa holding him up and congratulating him.

When he performed his first triple kick, he could remember the proud look on his Grandpa and then taking him out to eat as a reward.

Each of those techniques was engraved with his memories of his time with Grandpa.

Using Renewal Taekwondo had been too painful…all he could think of whenever he tried to use it now was his Grandfathers last moments. And if he wouldn't use Renewal, why would he use anything else?

It was stupid and illogical, but that's how Mori felt. Being on Remnant he had no reason to fight…is what he had thought.

Then he went to Beacon and met his new friends.

They were all so amazing.

Ren, with his silent nature and always attempting to input reason into conversations. Mori always enjoyed his talks with Ren whenever he had the chance to.

Pyrrha, being a true warrior who Mori had been itching to fight…despite being so strong her strength hadn't corrupted her, instead she was one of the kindest people Mori had ever gotten to know.

Nora was always fun to be around, and she always had this knack for helping someone at their lowest, evidenced by their previous conversation.

Weiss…he was getting along better with her, but even though she held everyone to a high standard her standards for herself were set even higher. She always worked hard and when she thought no one was looking she worked harder. Despite her cold attitude towards him, he could remember her lending him dust for the first time when he had none on him and giving him advice with it, even though she framed it meanly.

Blake, his current problem child…she was silent and kept to herself. But she still was a part of the group and he couldn't help but smile remembering all the times she would try to get him into literature. Knowing her story now, he couldn't help but feel more connected to her. She wanted to atone for her mistakes and chaos she had caused. That desire to redeem herself was something that Mori could understand and respect.

He was only pissed at her because she wanted to do this alone at her current level.

Jaune, was goofy and unfocused at times, but he had a big heart. He was Mori's first guy friend in Remnant. Mori could remember Jaune introducing him to his comic books and inviting Mori to Team JNPR's room to play video games. Then there was his strength. He started out weak, but his growth was unbelievable. Mori was jealous of how strong he had gotten in such a short time.

Yang, one of the first people Mori met on Remnant. She enjoyed a fight and adventure, and Mori would always get along with that. Despite her brash exterior, she was also kind and loving, especially to her family. It seemed like Yang had included Mori into that circle, especially with how much she was helping him with his schoolwork. Mori always knew that whenever he talked with Yang, they could be real with each other.

Finally, there was Ruby… She was reckless, she was a sugar addict, she had no respect for Mori's privacy or personal agency, and Mori had a hunch that all the times she was being cute to make him do what she wanted, was an act.

Despite all this, Ruby was the person he was closest to in Remnant. She was naïve and trusting to fault, but despite all this there was something about her that caused Mori to just go along with her antics, in fact the only time he had ever used his Renewal Taekwondo in Remnant was to save her from the Death Stalker.

Her kindness in caring for a random stranger was something Mori hadn't experienced in a long time.

Her desire to save everyone was a trait he had only seen in one other person.

Her insights to Mori's true self was something that scared him at times. It was freaky how she knew that a staff was best suited for him.

Her belief in Mori was something that Mori couldn't understand. In fact, why did she call him for help. Why not call the police, Beacon or even Yang. Instead she kept on believing in him for no reason and kept on saying he'd be a great Huntsman and hero.

He was no hero; he was a coward running away from his past. He failed to save his important people when it mattered. But anytime she looked at him with her silver eyes and said "Mori you'd make an awesome huntsman" there was something about it that made him believe her.

She saved his life. Not from the Beowolves like she thought or from that "Giant Pillar."

She saved his life by allowing him the opportunity to live again.

Without Ruby's influence, Mori would not be at Beacon and he would instead be wasting away hiding.

He was sure he would be a lot more jaded towards other people if it wasn't for Ruby's actions.

He was still cautious; but Ruby had a way of making him open to other people again.

Jaune, Ren, Nora, Pyrrha, Weiss, Ruby, Blake, Yang… All these people had become important to Mori. Nora was right, time didn't matter, he genuinely had grown to love and care for them… like family.

"Mori… Please…Stay Alive…And don't hate people… too much." His grandfather's last words echoed throughout Mori's mind

He was alive Grandpa! and he did not hate people, in fact he had found a new group of people to love, along with his friends from earth.

Ever since he had arrived in Remnant, Jin Mori had been trying to find a new purpose in life. He did not know why he should fight… he had finally found his why.

"I…I want to fight for them." Mori said out loud as he continued to his destination. "And l won't lose anyone! Ever again!" He promised to himself.

Jin Mori, the Monkey King was gone… Mori was unsure if he would ever return.

But right now…Jin Mori the fighter was finally making his appearance on Remnant.

* * *

Right now, Ruby wasn't quite sure what to do. All she knew was that her teammate Blake was missing, and that she needed to help her out.

"Blake, Blake!"

Ruby yelled out as her search for teammate.

"Friend Ruby, I don't think your friend Blake is around here, if she was, she would have heard you yelling and responded immediately," Ruby's new friend Penny spoke up.

"Penny…you know what… you're right," Ruby dejectedly responded back to her new friend.

It had been two days and they had no luck finding her teammate. Right now, Ruby was checking the harbor, trying to find the missing girl.

Would Ruby ever see her teammate again? Ruby didn't care that she used to be a part of a terrorist group. The Blake she had gotten to know during these past few months at Beacon was not evil.

" _Gahh"_ Ruby screamed in her mind. _Stupid Weiss, why'd you have to be so stubborn, and stupid Blake why'd you have to run away."_

"You looked Stressed Friend Ruby," Penny chipped in again, "I heard a massage can help you lower your stress level, would you like a massage?"

"No Penny, I'm fine," Ruby replied back, putting her hand to her face.

Penny was a … unique new friend that Ruby met when they were checking out the Vytal festival. She seemed nice though, but she just did the strangest stuff sometimes.

Wait…hadn't she said something like that before? …Oh yeah, when she first met Mori.

Now that Ruby thought about it, she had a habit of making strange friends. Maybe it was because her best friend was a scythe…not that there was anything wrong with that of course.

"Are you sure?" Penny responded, "My sens-, I can tell from your facial expression that you feel incredibly worried."

*Boom*

Before Ruby could respond to Penny an explosion occurred grabbing the two girls attention.

" _Something tells me Blake is over there,"_ Ruby thought to herself as she started to make her way to the source of the explosion.

"Friend Ruby!" Penny yelled, "Should you not call for help?"

Ruby immediately stopped in her tracks.

Doof, of course, it would be really reckless of her to go in just by herself.

She immediately opened her scroll and called the first person she could think off.

"Mori!" Ruby yelled out, "there's an explosion at the docks, I think Blake may be there, she may be in trouble, I'm going to go check it out." And then she hung up her scroll without letting him respond.

"Friend Ruby, was that the boyfriend you just called?" Penny asked tilting her head.

"Penny, he's not my boyfriend," Ruby replied.

"Is he not a boy and is he not your friend?" Penny asked tilting her head. "If yes to both, then that makes him a boyfriend correct?"

"Penny that's not what that word means," Ruby responded with a sigh, "Just… I'll explain it later… just stay here while I go check out that explosion."

And with that Ruby was off. When she got to the source of the explosion, she finally found the object of her search…She was with that Monkey Faunus that Weiss didn't like…and she was surrounded by a lot of people, with weapons. Normally Ruby would be excited about that but…now didn't seem like the time for that.

"Blake!" Ruby called out to her friend.

"Ruby!" Blake yelled back. "What are you doing here!"

"I saw the explosions and I figured you had something to with it" Ruby explained back, "I called for help, so it should be on the way."

"Wait, you saw an explosion and thought she was here," The Monkey Faunus said then he turned to Blake. "What kind of awesome stuff do you get into?"

"Who'd you call?" Blake asked ignoring the boy's question.

"I called Mori!" Ruby answered back.

"Mori!?" Blake shrieked back. "Ruby, I know you believe in the guy and think he has potential and I think he does too, but he is not going to be much help without Aura right now."

Oh drat, Blake had a point, why didn't she just call the police or Yang?

"As much I'm enjoying this reunion, I do have a robbery I need to finish." A voice cried out.

Ruby turned to see who it was. It was that thief from the dust store.

"Torchwick," Ruby muttered.

"Good to see you too Red." Torchwick replied tipping his hat. "No boyfriend today?"

"He's not my Boyfriend!" Ruby yelled back.

Seriously why did everyone call Mori her boyfriend? Sure, he was nice, and she liked hanging around with him…but she was more interested to see how much of a awesome Huntsman he could be in the future.

"Still, even without him here, not much has changed." The orange haired villain chuckled, "You still need to pay attention to your surroundings," he then pressed a button.

Ruby heard a click above her, and she looked up, it was a giant crate…Ah, biscuits she wasn't paying attention again.

She closed her eyes hoping that it wouldn't hurt too much…except the pain didn't come…again? Ruby swore this happened before.

"Ruby," An exasperated voice next to her said, "You really need to pay better attention to your surroundings."

Ruby opened her eyes to the sight of something familiar, Mori protecting her…again.

He was holding up the giant cargo freight like it was nothing with one hand.

"Ok, Superman!" Torchwick complained, "You can survive massive dust explosions and apparently can hold a 2-ton cargo freight like it's nothing, anything else you can do?"

Mori ignored the villain as he tossed the heavy box with ease into the sea.

"Blake!" Mori yelled out, "I told you this would be stupid, and you should have called for help!"

"What are you doing here!" Blake cried out. "I told you not to come!"

Wait, Mori already met Blake and didn't bother telling her. Oh, he was going to pay for that.

"I heard you!" Mori replied back, "And I decided I want to ignore that.,"

"But—" Blake tried to reply,

"I can't hear you, sorry Blake, you are too far away," Mori interrupted, putting his head between his hands.

"Bu—"

"Blah, Blah," Mori sang back as he covered his ears.

As she watched him act like a complete goofball, Ruby couldn't help but chuckle despite the situation they were in. There was something different about Mori. It was like a giant burden seemed to be off his shoulders.

"Mori," Ruby said interrupting the strange dance her friend was doing.

He stopped his dance and looked at her.

"You're here," Ruby continued, "But I don't know how much help you can be."

At that Mori smiled at her, putting his hand on top of her head, it felt kind of nice.

"I'll be fine," he said in a reassuring voice looking into her eyes, "There were…some things I remembered."

Did Mori recover some of his memories? That was great!

"I want you to stay here with on the sidelines while I go to help Blake and Sun," Mori said.

"But—" Ruby tried to reply.

"This is something I want to do for myself." Mori interrupted her with a serious voice, "If you're in the way, I may accidentally hurt you."

There was something in Mori's eyes that made Ruby believe in him.

She nodded ok, and with that Mori was suddenly gone, and was instead next to Blake and the monkey Faunus named Sun.

"Blake," Mori said still a serious tone as he appeared next to her, "When the fighting starts I want you and Sun to join Ruby on the sidelines, I already told her this, but with the way I am now, I'm not sure I can protect if you're in my way."

Blake and Sun were too startled by Mori's sudden appearance to say something.

"I know, you don't want my help," Mori continued, "But I want you to listen to me for once…got it?" the last part was said with so much force that Blake and Sun immediately nodded.

What Mori did next, Ruby could not believe.

"Uhm, Mori," Blake asked with a confused look on her face. "What are you doing?"

"I'm stretching," Mori replied with a frank face, as he straightened out his neck. "It's important, so I don't pull a muscle."

"Look, I don't know who you are," A big elephant faunus interrupted while walking up to Mori "But, if you think that you and those traitors are getting out of here alive you have got another thing coming."

At that Mori was silent with his back turned towards the White Fang grunt.

Suddenly, the grunt was sent flying into the ocean. Mori was now facing the other direction with a leg sticking out.

Ruby could barely catch what happened, but it seemed like Mori delivered a rising back kick.

"Hey!" Mori cried out, putting his leg down, "If you guys don't want to end up in a hospital, stand down!"

Ruby could not believe what she just heard…THAT WAS SUCH AN AWESOME LINE!

At that the White Fang members started conversing to themselves,

"Stand down?"

"This kid's delusional right?"

"Does he not see how many of us there are?"

"Kid, we are not the ones that are going to end up in a hospital."

"What can one guy do by himself?"

And with that, all the White Fang members readied their weapons. Ruby estimated there to be around 100-150 of them.

In response to their show of aggression, Mori once again took a stance. It was the mesmerizing stance that Ruby first saw in the first robbery with Torchwick. This time, however, there was no hesitation in Mori; instead, all she saw was conviction.

" **Renewal Taekwondo: Basic Stance**." He said in a calm voice.

Renewal Taekwondo? Ruby had never heard of anything like that before.

"Look kid, you don't even have a weapon what can you do agains—"Another grunt started to talk but was interrupted.

It wasn't by someone else talking, no…he was interrupted by Mori all of a sudden delivering a devasting knee strike to his face.

Suddenly Mori was now in the middle of the giant crowd of White Fang grunts.

What was Mori was doing? …He put himself right in the middle of the enemy…so much for not being reckless, he was being a massive hypocrite.

At Mori's sudden intrusion to the group, a grunt tried to raise his weapon and strike him. Ruby was about to warn Mori, but in one smooth motion he caught the weapon with his leg, then disarmed his opponent and kicked the grunt into the ground.

Another tried to hit him with his back turned, Mori immediately pivoted out of his first strike and delivered another devasting back kick to the unfortunate attacker.

Chaos erupted within the White Fang's rank as they tried to fight off the lone intruder. It was to no avail as he would either dodge, disarm or counterattack his opponent's futile attempts to hurt him. He was destroying them all with just kicks and punches.

"Wow," a voice next to Ruby said, it was Sun who along with Blake had arrived next to Ruby, "Remind me not to stick him with the bill again."

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!" Mori yelled as he finished crunching another grunt between his elbows and knee. "I SPENT MY FRIDAY IN MY ROOM!"

Huh, looks like Sun was somehow involved in "Boy's night."

"Ignoring his refusal to acknowledge we have met," Sun said turning to Blake, "He'd not be much help huh?"

"I…I…" Blake stuttered as she watched the carnage.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS KID!"

"SOMEONE STOP HIM!"

"HE'S JUST ONE-"

The last voice was interrupted as Mori delivered a brutal elbow strike to his next victim.

This was amazing, Ruby had never seen anything like this before. She expected Mori to do something awesome when she first saw his stance…but not like this.

It was like watching those Martial Arts movies her Dad and Yang liked to watch. Ruby liked those and she thought they were cool…but if they had weapons they would be cooler. She had never really been into hand-to-hand combat

But, there was something about watching Mori that seemed so…Beautiful… his movements were so… amazing.

Ruby's biggest problem with Mori had always been his lack of weapon…But watching him now it was like his whole body was a weapon. The White Fang couldn't touch him as he kept on delivering brutal strike after strike.

Using one leg to block an attack and then quickly using another to deliver a blow, Mori continued his onslaught against his enemies.

"THIS KID IS A MONSTER!"

"WHY CAN"T WE HIT HIM!"

"MOMMY HELP!"

"JUST MAKE IT STOP PLEASE!"

Their cries were no use as Mori continued to strike down his enemies with his martial arts.

"OK!" Torchwick screamed, "Where are the Bullheads?!"

And with that, Ruby noticed 4 bullheads fly in as they aimed their weapons at the boy.

"Mori!" Ruby cried out.

Mori instantly understood what she was saying, as he suddenly kicked off one grunt and jumped into the air.

"What is Mori doing?" Blake asked..

"Knowing what I've seen so far, something awesome." Sun replied.

Ruby had to agree with Sun that Mori was giving off signs of doing something really cool.

Suddenly, Ruby felt a chill as she noticed that the air around her seemed to be getting redirected.

It was gathering around Mori. Ruby couldn't but notice it was taking the form of…a dragon?

" **JIN MORI ORIGINAL,"** Mori shouted midair **, "BLUE DRAGON KICK"** He then unleashed his attack against the bullheads.

The bystanders closed their eyes as a giant explosion filled the Harbor.

When Ruby opened up her eyes, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"WHAT KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOU!" Torchwick cried out in shock.

"He…. He…" Blake was trying to say something, but she couldn't get it out.

Sun wasn't saying anything, because his mouth was dropped to the floor.

Honestly, Ruby couldn't blame him. Because the sight she was seeing shouldn't have been possible.

With just one Kick, Mori had absolutely destroyed the harbor. The bullheads, the docks, the Schnee shipment freighter…all of it was gone.

All that was left was just the bodies of the White Fang members groaning in pain.

"Shit!" Mori cursed, "I used way too much power."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd  
> Woof28  
> Eliad91


	8. A Step Forward

**Chapter 8: A Step Forward.**

* * *

All Roman Torchwick could do was sit in silence. Roman considered himself a smart man. So, when all of the grunts got annihilated, and the escape vehicles were destroyed by a kick, he did the sensible thing and surrendered.

That of course resulted in his current situation, cuffed in the back of a police vehicle. Of course, even though he "surrendered" it didn't mean he didn't have a backup plan.

Suddenly, he felt the vehicle stop and sounds of chaos soon occurred.

" _And there's Plan B,"_ Roman thought to himself.

A couple of minutes of gunfire and shouting rang outside and then silence.

The door of the van is opened a minute later, and Roman is greeted to a friendly sight…friendly being relative of course with the subject at hand.

"Neo, good to see you," Roman said, "Now, can you be a dear and get these off me?" he then raised his hands to show his accomplice the handcuffs.

The pink and brown haired girl gave a sadistic smile, nodded and sliced down immediately with her umbrella shaped weapon.

"Gah! Watch it, Neo!" Torchwick complained as he rubbed his now free hands, "When I said be a dear and get these off me, I meant grab the keys from one of the dead guards, not try to cut me into two."

The apologetic look on her face was completely fake, as she then showed him keys she had swiped.

"It's a bit too late for that now Neo," Roman angrily replied brushing them away, "Anyways, we need to go talk to our employer."

Neo then tilted her head, wondering what Roman was doing.

"Let's just say there's some…details I want to work out."

Getting into the bullhead, the two immediately set off to their next destination.

"So, where exactly were you when the juggernaut was tearing apart those animals like… well animals?" Torchwick asked in the middle of the ride.

At that, the girl held out her hand, made a first and did a licking motion.

"You were getting ice cream," Torchwick deadpanned, "Important Robbery and you were getting ice cream?"

The girl nodded with a smile.

"Ugh, I don't care anymore, I've already dealt with enough shit tonight." The criminal responded. "What I need to focus on is not being literal burnt toast."

Upon arriving at the secret location, Torchwick turned to Neo and instructed her to stay behind.

She just nodded and went back to her scroll.

Mentally preparing himself, Roman went into the abandoned building where the meeting was supposed to take place. Upon entering the meeting place, he was greeted to a brunette woman in a red dress.

"Roman, good to see you aren't in cuffs right now," The woman said, "Though the lack of dust and the henchmen you lost does seem to sour this meeting right now." She then put a finger on Torchwick's chest.

Torchwick could feel his temperature rising, and it wasn't because the woman was hot…even though she was. The woman had the power to use fire and he was on the brink of being extra crispy right now.

"Well Cinder, the heist had some…what can I say…complications?" Roman replied, "And because of these…complications, there's some things I need to say."

"Oh?" Cinder replied softly, "And what is that?"

Roman could feel the temperature once again rising in the room. What he was planning on saying was probably not going to help him avoid being used as kindle…but considering the shit he had gone through just now…he didn't care.

"I quit," Roman replied with a straight face.

"You…quit?" Cinder repeated in a confused voice as she took her finger off his chest.

"I quit," Roman repeated back, "When you first roped me into this I was expecting to deal with scared shopkeepers, the police, security guards and the occasional huntsman…those I could deal with, I have experience with all of those. Tonight, I did not get that…instead I got a kid who could tank explosions, lift up a 2-ton crate with one hand, bare-handedly wreck 150 grunts without breaking a sweat and to top it all off, four bullheads, a Schnee freighter, and the harbor, he destroyed with a single kick…one kick."

All Roman could think of about that nightmare of an encounter was _"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!? SERIOUSLY WHAT WAS THAT!?"_

Being a criminal for so long he had developed an innate sense of when someone was dangerous. Cinder of course set that sense off like a house fire. It was why he was doing her stupid job in the first place.

That kid …Wildfire compared to her. He already felt uneasy about him when they first met at that small dust shop. However, tonight's event just confirmed it. It wasn't just his durability or power that scared Roman, Cinder could also probably destroy a harbor, not with a kick, but she can destroy one…it was also the look in his eyes. There was something about them that made Roman just not want to deal with him. Those were the eyes of someone that Roman knew not to mess with.

"I don't know why you are so freaked out Roman," Cinder nonchantly replied, "Any Huntsman worth their salt could deal with that many White Fang grunts, and you've dealt with Huntsmen before."

"Did I mention the fact that he blew up a harbor…with a kick mind you?" Roman responded, angry that she wasn't taking him seriously.

"Really Roman? A kick? Use your head, one of the grunts probably didn't secure the dust enough." Cinder replied, "Stray fire caused it to ignite and make that explosion."

"I know what I saw Cinder!" Roman shouted, "And that kid blew up the Harbor with a kick, he even shouted, to quote, 'Shit, I used way too much power.'"

"…Well that is intriguing…if what you said is true, which I highly doubt, I may have to look at this boy and plan around him." The Brunette responded, "But, if you still want to leave our…partnership, you should know that we still would have to go through an…exit interview."

Exit interview, was another way to say he would have to die. Roman was weighing his options now, deal with Cinder or deal with the monster. If it was Cinder, he would probably die a painful fiery death…the monster, well Roman wasn't quite sure, but he didn't want to test his luck.

" _Cinder or the Monster, Cinder, Monster, Cinder, Monster."_ He was thinking to himself.

"Tick tock Roman," Cinder spoke in a seductive tone, putting her finger on his chest again "I'm waiting for your decision."

Roman could once again feel the temperature rising

"Fine," Roman replied. "I'll continue, but I want something done about the monster."

He decided the monster, at least with him, maybe Red could tone down whatever the boy would do. The boy seemed fond of her.

"I wouldn't worry about that too much Roman," Cinder chuckled, "If you want to deal with a monster, all you need is a beast."

With that, she suddenly turned on the tv and started a video call.

"What do you want?" The voice on the tv asked when the call connected.

Roman instantly recognized the figure. Anyone could recognize him, after all there were not many Bull Faunus that wore a white mask with red hair.

"Those men you lent us didn't seem up to standard…I think we need some more…personal assistance." Cinder Replied.

Roman was wondering where in his life he went wrong.

* * *

With the knowledge that James Ironwood had been entrusted with, there really should have been nothing in this world that surprised him.

These past few months have proven that wrong.

The first incident was the giant pillar falling into the nearby ocean. It caused some mild panic with tsunami warnings to the coast of Mantle. Thankfully, evacuation was immediate, and they were able to calmly resolve the situation. When a group of scientist went to investigate the object, they were unable to determine what it exactly was.

Its nature was not of this world. When they attempted to remove it from its spot, they could not, 4 Atlesian Airships could not even make the thing budge. Ironwood had never seen anything like it before. They tried to blow it up as well, but the thing was unscathed. No matter what they did, it looked like Remnant had gained a new landmark.

The second thing that astounded Ironwood was the video that Private Penny Polendina had showed him.

"Thank you, Penny." He said, "Is there anything else that you would like to report."

"I was about to intervene myself to help friend Ruby's friend out, when I noticed something odd." Penny responded.

"And what was that?" the General asked.

"My sensors indicated that the boy did not use any aura, in fact it looked like his aura was still locked."

"No aura?" Ironwood responded in Shock, "He did all that, with no Aura?"

"Correct," Penny replied, "Mr. Mori Jin had not used any aura, all he seemed to use was his physical skills,"

"…You are free to go now Penny," Ironwood said finally breaking his silence.

The girl then saluted and left the room.

The images of what Ironwood had saw filled his mind as he replayed them with the knowledge of the fact the boy used no aura.

This was actually not the first time he had heard of the boy Mori Jin. He first heard about the boy when it was announced that Beacon was implementing a replacement system. Ironwood found it weird that Ozpin was breaking tradition like that, but if the system worked out it would be a boon to society.

But then there was the incident at the docks, where Mr. Jin confronted the White Fang.

Who was he? What was with his amazing abilities without aura? Was he like a Penny, a robot? No, Penny's scans asserted that he was flesh and blood. But he still could've been a secret experiment…maybe of the Queens?

Ironwood tried to have him looked up, but the only thing that was pulled up was his Beacon records, his encounters with the criminal Roman Torchwick and an arrest report for…unruly behavior.

Outside of that, there was nothing.

If it was only the records Ironwood wouldn't have been that bothered. There were plenty of settlements that were too far away to really record anything. But, the level of skill the boy showed is what made Ironwood pause.

It was astounding the way he dismantled that sect of the White Fang; they weren't elite fighters but they were still experienced. Even if he was a huntsman-in-training, they still shouldn't have been overwhelmed like that. Instead the boy treated them like toddlers.

Mori Jin showed experience, skill and awareness of a trained huntsman.

That made Ironwood wary, where did he learn this stuff and how had such an amazing individual never been heard of before?

His fighting style was something that Ironwood had never seen before, the recording mentioned him calling it Renewal Taekwondo, but there was nothing in the databases that had any records of it before.

Video analysis showed it was similar to an Mistralian martial art based of kicking, and from what Ironwood can tell it was a martial arts technique that favored precision and slipping through the enemy's defenses.

It made Ironwood incredibly wary of the boy, because the fighting style seemed to be mostly used for humans. It would be effective against Grimm, but it was especially effective against humans. The boy didn't kill any of the Fang but still…

Then the last thing that worried Ironwood was the destroyed harbor. The official report was that there was unsecured dust and a stray bullet ignited the entire shipment and caused the mass explosion. However, according to Penny there was not enough dust to cause that much damage. The destruction was caused by the boy…by a single kick.

All Ironwood could do was rub his head in frustration as he thought about the boy, he was not normal and the fact that he did this without Aura accentuated that.

What was Ozpin thinking bring the child into his school without any idea of who he was?

Suddenly, Ironwood's scroll rang while he was in his deep thought. He took out and looked at the message.

_"Queen has Pawns,"_

That was the message that Qrow had sent out to the group that was in the know. That made Ironwood's blood run cold. Could the boy possibly be one of the pawns?

There was too much going on in Vale now. The pillar that was close by, the mysterious boy, the dust robberies, all of it seemed to point to Vale.

Either way, Ironwood would get to the bottom of it and find out exactly what was going on. He needed the best of the best to be able to not only uncover the truth but also protect the people from whatever was coming up.

Dialing up his scroll he immediately called one of his most trusted officers.

"Clover, this is General Ironwood. I have a mission for the AceOps."

* * *

Rumors of what Mori did seem to have circulated quickly throughout Beacon the day after his confrontation against the White Fang.

"Did you hear about the Sub?"

"He apparently fought off a thousand White Fang grunts,"

"I heard that he planted a bomb and blew up the entire harbor"

"I heard it was a section of the city."

All Mori could do was groan internally about the rumors circulating around the incident. As he got his lunch and sat down, he could sense the presence of his friends joining him

"What's up Disaster Boy?" A mocking voice that belonged to an annoying blonde girl called out.

"Disaster boy?" Mori questioned, just as he was about to dig in. "Yang, what are you talking about?"

"She's talking about you blowing up one of my family's freighters," Weiss answered, "My father is pissed about that by the way."

"I'm so sorry about that Weiss," Mori apologized, as he bowed his head comically to the heiress.

"Don't worry I'm not the one who's mad." The girl responded, "You were only trying to save my teammate, you couldn't have possibly known that there would be unsecured dust that caught fire."

"Uhh Weiss," Blake spoke up, "We told you what happened, Mori's kick is the one that caused the explosions."

"Yeah," Ruby chipped in, "It was totally awesome."

"Nonsense," Weiss replied, "Use your brain, what makes more sense, our friend kicked and destroyed a harbor or unsecured dust caught fire and exploded? Me personally, I think it's the latter."

"I know that it doesn't make sense but that's what happened," Blake argued back. "I don't know why you're so stubborn in not believing that."

"It's not stubbornness it's called logic" Weiss retorted.

"Guys, guys," Ruby interceded, going in between the two, "We already made up yesterday can we not get into another argument."

"I thought I was porcupine?" Mori asked Yang, as he decided not to get in between the fight.

"Eh, you were, but like you said I didn't come up with it, so I think I'm going to call you Disaster Boy from now on," Yang teased.

Mori groaned and put his head on the table; he preferred porcupine.

"Hey if you don't want that nickname, I'll take it," Jaune interjected, "I don't want to be known as vomit boy anymore."

"Nonsense VB," Yang teased, "You will always known be as Vomit Boy."

At that, Jaune groaned as he joined Mori in putting his head on the table.

"But seriously," Yang continued, "You three had a crazy weekend, Jaune starts a fight, Ren destroys a club and Mori blows up a harbor…we have a bunch of bad boys over here." She joked.

"We spent our Friday in our rooms," The three boys simultaneous replied back. "There was no such thing as a boys' night."

"Wow," Yang responded, "You guys have got that in sync."

"Ignoring what our idiots spent their weekends doing," Weiss joined in, "Are you guys ready for our final combat spars for the semester?"

"OH!" Ruby chimed in, "Mori, you promised me you'd show me something cool in combat class."

Mori turned towards Ruby; a questioning look on his face.

"Don't tell me you forgot Mori," Ruby cutely pouted, "It was last night,"

**The Night Before**

Mori could only sigh as he stared at the moon once again in his favorite spot on the rooftop, the chaos of the incident at the docks had finally died downed and when he tried to go to bed, instead of falling asleep, all he could feel was his blood still rushing from the battle.

It had been so long since he had a fight.

So now, instead of sleeping, Mori was instead practicing up top on the roof top, going through his kicks.

The fight with the Fang had taught him a couple of things. Mainly, aura made me people really durable. He knew that it helped protect people, but he wasn't exactly sure by how much it did. It didn't provide much of an attack boost but people sure can take a hit as they long as they had aura. That was good, because that was what led to his second observation.

His control was completely gone, he used way too much power during the fight, he only attempted to destroy the bullheads with his blue dragon kick, instead he destroyed the harbor, that caused him to be more drained then usual.

Either way his Renewal Taekwondo and martial arts was a mess, the cause was probably a combination of his bodies condition due to the aftermath of Ragnarok and his lack of practice. He couldn't do anything about the first one but since he couldn't sleep, he may very well do something about the second.

While going through his stances. Once again Mori remembered his Grandpa's last moments, but instead of his last words, he remembered his last act… the kick that saved his life…it was the most beautiful and perfect kick Mori had ever seen… could he do it himself?

Mori took a stance as he visualized his Grandfathers last act. Remembering the form, he attempted to copy it down to the exact detail.

" _Not a single drop of wasted ene—"_

***BAM***

"Mori! I knew you were up here."

Mori's concentration on his kick was interrupted, as he lost control and fell onto the ground. He looked up in annoyance to find the source…It was Ruby.

"Oh, sorry" The girl responded as she rubbed her head, "Did I interrupt something?"

She did, but Mori wasn't going to say it. Instead, he nodded no.

"So, what are you doing?" Ruby asked as she tilted her head.

"I couldn't really sleep, so I decided to come up here to practice." Mori responded, as he got back up.

"COULD I SEE MORE!" Ruby asked breathing heavily, as she got into his face, "THAT WAS SO AWESOME, WHAT WAS THAT?"

"It's my Grandfathers martial arts," Mori replied as he backed out of Ruby's excited face. "It's called Renewal Taekwondo."

"Renewal Taekwondo…" Ruby repeated back, "Oh! You just mentioned your Grandpa! Did you get your memories back?"

At that Mori internally winced, he could tell her the truth that he was faking amnesia, but…how would Ruby react? Mori doubted she would be angry that he had been lying to her this entire time, disappointed and he would lose her trust, but Ruby probably wouldn't get angry.

But at the same time if he told the truth, she would want to know why he was lying, and telling her that he was a God from a different world was not an explanation that was believable, she would just think he was crazy and lying still.

"Some of them…" Mori responded, as he decided to keep up the charade, "I remembered my Grandfather and his techniques."

"If you know your Grandpa's name, we could contact him to find your family!" Ruby excitedly responded.

At that, Mori gave a sad smile and looked down.

"I'm sorry Ruby, I don't think that would be possible."

Ruby gave a curious tilt of her head.

"He…Before I met you, he…he…" Even though Mori had been able to use his martial arts again, talking about his Grandfather's death was still hard.

As if it were Déjà vu, Mori could suddenly feel a warm feeling come over him.

It was Ruby hugging him.

"I understand," Ruby replied softly. "You don't have to force yourself to say it…just let it out"

Mori only nodded as tears started to fill his eyes.

For the first time since his Grandfathers death he was able to cry about it. He had held it in for so long, for fear of someone asking what was wrong and not being able to answer why.

If only his enemies could see him now, the Great Monkey King, who challenged the Heavens, beat the Gods and became the Supreme God himself…bawling on the shoulders of a 15-year old girl.

"So, what was his name?" Ruby asked as she finally let go of Mori after he was finished crying

"…Jin Taejin" Mori responded as he wiped his last tears away from his eyes.

"Wait… if he has the same name quirk as you, doesn't that mean here he would go by Taejin Jin?" Ruby asked with curious face.

Mori paused, thought about it and nodded yes.

"That's weird Mori," Ruby responded, "Even your family is weird."

At that, Mori couldn't help but crack a smile.

"I don't want hear that coming from you, the girl with a scythe as a best friend…Not that there's anything wrong with that." He added at the end.

"No, not at all." Ruby responded back with a smile of her own.

"So, can I see your techniques?" Ruby asked after they finished their banter.

Mori nodded, as he showed Ruby the **Round Kick** * first, after that **Axe** , **Fangs** , **Screw punch** , **Baekdu** , **Ground Drawer** , **Rising Back Kick** , **Arang** , etc.

As he once again went through his Renewal Taekwondo skills, he could remember his Grandfathers influence…It didn't hurt anymore, in fact it was comforting. It was like he was right there with him. Now that he had used his techniques again Mori realized; his Grandpa was gone…but he was still alive through Renewal Taekwondo.

At that, Mori stopped his demonstration to Ruby and started to cry again.

"Mori, are you ok?" Ruby panickily asked, "If it hurts too much you can stop."

"No, No, it's fine," Mori responded as he wiped his tears again, "I just realized something while doing that."

"What was it?" Ruby asked as she tilted her head again.

"My grandfather…isn't with me anymore, but as I was going through my techniques, I realized that he was…just in a different way." Mori responded, rubbing his head with his hand. "If I never fought with this again, I would never be able to see him again."

"I'm glad… it's wonderful when a family member leaves you with such a great gift," Ruby responded as a slight tremble seemed to fill her eyes, "It definitely has the Ruby stamp of approval for awesomeness."

"Oh, you haven't even seen the most awesome of these techniques," Mori bragged…that was a big mistake.

"YOU HAVE MORE AWESOME TECHNIQUES!?" Ruby responded as she once again got close to Mori's face, "SHOW ME!"

"It's really hard to show without something to use it on," Mori responded as he tried to back away.

"SHOW ME!" Was all Ruby said in response as she seemed to drool a little bit.

" _Don't look in her eyes, don't look in her eyes, don't look in her eyes."_ Mori chanted to himself.

He looked in her eyes…Dammit.

"I'll show you…how about tomorrow during our combat fight" Mori responded, as he once again lost to the undefeated foe.

"But you are not allowed to fight in combat class."

"Don't worry, I think I could work something out with Glynda."

**Present**

Oh yeah, he did promise that he would show Ruby something cool.

"You dolt, he's not allowed to fight." Weiss interrupted before Mori could respond.

"Besides, I don't think he could really top blowing up a harbor." Blake chipped in.

"He didn't blow up a harbor Blake, it…was…the…dust." Weiss argued once again turning her attention to the cat faunus.

"IT WAS NOT THE DUST!" Blake argued back.

"KICKS DON'T WORK LIKE THAT!"

"I KNOW! BUT THAT ONE DID!"

Once again, Ruby tried to get in between the two arguing.

"So, Disaster Boy, you promised to show something cool during combat class eh." Yang asked with a smirk on her face.

"I too, am interested in your abilities." Pyrrha chimed in with a glint in her eyes.

"It would be interesting to see the skills of the man who supposedly single handedly took on the White Fang." Ren chipped in.

"I can't wait to see what you can do!" Nora shouted as she too stared at Mori.

"I heard you were busting moves, so I want to see them as well." Jaune said as he joined in.

At the stares of all his friends, Mori could only sweat inside. Why did he promise to do that…it wasn't even a sure thing his way of being able to fight would work.

Still if it did, what would he show them? Any of his originals were out of the question as they caused too much damage, the **True Roundhouse Kick** * was also a no, because it was too destructive and again his control may slip…guess he should go with that.

* * *

All Ruby could think about all day was Mori's Renewal Taekwondo, each of the kicks, and techniques had made her excited. He was all hwacha! and then waaa! and hiyah!.

Honestly, she wouldn't ever tell her Uncle Qrow, but the docks had caused Mori to overtake him in the coolness factor.

Uncle Qrow taught her how to fight and use a scythe. But Mori's Renewal Taekwondo was just so cool. There was something about it that mesmerized Ruby.

" _What was that basic kick called again?"_ Ruby thought to herself, _"The Round Kick?"_

Trying to visualize the first kick Mori showed her, Ruby attempted to copy the stance.

" _I think it went like th—"_

"Ruby, what are you doing!?"

Gah Ruby's concentration broke as she then fell to the ground. Who interrupted her?

"Weiss don't scare me like that!" Ruby complained.

"Well it looked like you were about to flash someone," Weiss responded with an annoyed tone.

Eep, Ruby forgot, she was still wearing her school skirt.

"Ignoring whatever you were going to do, are we going to combat class or not?" Weiss asked.

Ruby nodded and they both made their way to the locker rooms to get changed.

"So, what exactly were you doing? Weiss asked again.

"I was just trying to copy Mori's kick," Ruby explained.

"What the one that 'blew up the harbor'" Weiss mocked, making air quotes with her hands.

"He really did blow up that harbor with kick Weiss." Ruby replied, "But no, he showed me some of his other kicks last night and I was just trying to see if I can copy the most basic one."

"…that may actually be good for you." Weiss responded after thinking about it for a while.

"Really?" Ruby asked.

"You mostly use Crescent Rose, so your hands are full for the most part but I've seen that your fighting style does use some kicks, if you can add more variety it can make you a lot stronger," Weiss explained as they continued their way to the arena.

Huh that was a good idea, maybe she should ask Mori to show her some pointers on kicking.

After getting changed and heading into the arena, Ruby couldn't help but feel nervous. She generally did well in one vs one combat but still it was a final…her grade was depending on this.

"I'm so pumped for this!" Yang said as she and Blake joined Ruby and Weiss.

"Please, we should all pass with flying colors," Weiss stated with a confident tone.

"I'm more interested to see the cool thing Mori said he was going to do," Blake added

"What, is 'blowing up the harbor' not enough for you," Weiss mocked, "Is he going to snuff out the Sun with a kick next?"

"Weiss, for the last time he really did blow up the harbor with a kick!" Blake angrily bit back.

"And I am telling you it is scientifically impossible to destroy harbor with a kick especially when he has no aura." Weiss angrily responded.

"That's why it's so unbelievable!"

"So, you admit that it's unbelievable!"

Ruby couldn't help but groan. Weiss and Blake seemed to have resolved all their issues involving Blake being a Faunus and a former member of the White Fang. Ruby was glad that they seemed to let that move past them.

They were now focused about the fact of if Mori blew up the Harbor or not.

Honestly, Ruby couldn't help but sympathize with Weiss's inability to believe, if it was anybody else but Mori and if she didn't see it with her own two eyes, she wouldn't have believed it herself. It just shouldn't have happened…but it did.

"I don't know why it's so hard for you to believe us!"

"I don't know why it's so hard for you to believe in reality!"

"Ladies, are you done with your argument?" a voice cut in between Blake and Weiss's fight,

The two girls immediately stopped.

"Yes, Professor Goodwitch," the two simultaneously responded with a look of fear in their eyes.

"Now, that we have all the…distractions finished; we will now begin your finals for combat class." Professor Goodwitch began, "Each of you will be doing a one on one match, we will start with volunteers and once all the volunteer are finished, match ups will be random."

Ruby wondered who she would want to face if she volunteered, Jaune, Nora, Ren, maybe Pyrrha?

"You will not be graded on if you win or lose," Goodwitch continued, "Instead, you will be graded on past fights and how much you have improved or learned, if I find your learning unsatisfactory, you will fail your final…Now do we have any volunteers?"

A hand immediately went up, Ruby instantly recognized who it was.

"Mr. Jin," Goodwitch responded with an annoyed tone, "Like I said before, we are still waiting for you to unlock your aura before you fight,"

"C'mon Glynda" Mori responded as he put his arm on Professor Goodwitch's shoulder.

Murmurs filled the classroom as no one was able to catch Mori suddenly appear next to their Professors side. Even Goodwitch herself almost dropped her scroll in shock as he appeared next to her.

"I understand the whole reasoning behind not letting me fight," Mori continued, "I'd get hurt, it would be no use because there was no aura for you to judge on, my opponent would have to wound me to win, I get it all, but I have a proposition for you."

"It is Professor Goodwitch to you, Mr. Jin," the Deputy headmistresses responded as she recovered from her initial shock and pushed Mori's arm off, "And what could you possibly be do to make it a fair fight between you and your opponent without putting you in danger.

"Easy," Mori responded, "One clean hit, if my opponent gets one clean hit on me I will lose and you can fail me."

At that, Goodwitch thought about it for a while.

"Are you sure about this Mr. Jin? It's awfully arrogant for you to think you can beat your opponent without ever letting them get a clean hit on you." Goodwitch said as she broke out of her thoughts.

"C'mon Glynda it's a win win," Mori responded, "I get to fight, and you get to fail me if I lose, you know you want to do that."

"Once again Mr. Jin, it is Professor Goodwitch," Their teacher repeated, "And despite our…interesting dynamic, I don't want to fail you or any of my students, I want to make sure all of you will be prepared for the real world to the utmost of your ability."

"Then let me fight," Mori argued back, "I won't get any experience if I don't fight one on one and this is the best way to accommodate my lack of aura."

Goodwitch seemed to think about it, a minute passed before she finally sighed in defeat.

"…Let me be clear, I believe this is a foolhardy choice. However, our school prides itself on giving students the freedom of choice." Goodwitch finally responded while shaking her head, "You can fight, but I am warning you, I will be liberal with what a clean hit is."

Yes, Mori convinced Goodwitch to let him fight, Ruby was excited to see more of his Renewal Taekwondo.

"Who would you like to fight Mr. Jin?" Goodwitch asked.

"I wanna fight Cardin," Mori smiled, pointing his finger at Jaune's former bully.

"Will you fight Mr. Mori, Mr. Winchester," Goodwitch asked Cardin.

"Fight against the sub? Easy win." Cardin exclaimed, after recovering from his initial shock.

At that, Ruby and Blake winced, remembering the events of the night before.

"Then take your positions gentlemen," Goodwitch responded as both Mori and Cardin faced off each other. "Mr. Winchester you know the special rules, correct? One clean hit and you will win."

"Just one? I think I can get more than that Professor," The Auburn-haired boy bragged.

Again, Ruby and Blake winced,

"He has no idea what he is getting into," Blake whispered to Ruby,

"Yeah," Ruby responded.

"I'm excited to see what Mori can do," Yang responded with a fire in her eyes, "I missed the show."

"Even though he obviously did not blow up a harbor with a kick, I too am interested in seeing his fighting style that allowed him to fight 100 White Fang members at once." Weiss said, as she too couldn't hide her interest in their friend.

Ruby immediately stopped Blake from arguing again and gave the girl a look that said "It's not worth it, do it another time"

"You know replacement," Cardin said as he got into his fighting stance, "I heard what you apparently did last night…I don't believe it, I think it's a sham."

To that, Mori responded with silence as his eyes went into focus, waiting for the signal.

"Begin!"

The next couple of seconds completely shattered Ruby's expectations… and they were quite high.

Cardin charged at Mori; mace ready to strike her friend down.

In one smooth motion Mori countered the weapon with a kick and diverted the weapon to the ground. Ruby had already seen that technique before, as he used it multiple times to disarm the White Fang.

But the next technique however…

" **Renewal Taekwondo"** Mori calmly stated, " **Triple Kick** "

All of a sudden, Ruby swore she saw three versions of Mori kick different spots on Cardin's head.

***Bam* *Bam* *Bam***

Mori walked by Cardin after finishing his technique.

In an instant Cardin slumped to the ground. On screen his aura dropped form 100 percent to Zero.

Everyone in the room's mouths dropped.

With one technique, Mori had completely shattered Cardin's aura.

"Holy…" Was all Yang could say.

"He, He," Weiss was trying to say something, but she couldn't get anything out.

"…I don't even know why I am surprised." Blake said as she recovered relatively quickly

Professor Goodwitch could only stare in shock as she looked at Cardin, then Mori, then back to her scroll, then to Cardin again, then back to Mori and etc.

However, while everyone was staring in shock at Mori's strength, Ruby was paying attention to something else.

In her eyes, flashes of a figure in white seemed to appear on Mori.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the translation of the techniques for the most famous ones I've decided to do an english translation of them what do you think? Like it?, Hate it? No cares? Either way with this volume 1 is done and I hope to hear your comments on the chapter and the fic as whole.  
> Beta's  
> Woof28  
> Eliad91  
> Patrician_Lurker


	9. Finding the Way

* * *

"I got ten!"

"Hah, sorry Rubes, looks like I beat you, I got fifteen!"

"That's because you stole half my kills Yang!"

"Girls, it's not a competition to see who can kill the most Grimm…though I got twenty-five,"

It had been a couple of days since the semester at Beacon ended and Yang and her sister Ruby were spending their break at home in Patch.

Right now, they were helping their dad clear the forest of Grimm.

"If this is a competition, I think I won," Another voice chipped in.

The family turned their heads to the source and were greeted to a site.

It was a huge pile of Grimm disintegrating with Mori standing in front of it. Yang estimated there to be around forty-five to fifty.

Their amnesiac friend was joining them during the break. He originally wanted to stay at Beacon and hang out with Jaune, but one look in Ruby's eyes meant that plan got derailed.

"Ok Mori, are you sure you haven't unlocked your aura or semblance?" Her dad asked with his jaw open, "Because some of the things you do is just ridiculous."

Mori only shrugged at Taiyang's question.

"We are so having a match when school starts up again!" Yang said as she pounded her fists together.

"Why don't you just have a match here," Ruby questioned Yang.

"EH I want the whole school to watch me take Disaster Boy down," Yang cockily replied.

"Stop calling me that!" Mori shouted as he joined the conversation, "And you are not beating me."

"I don't know about that," "Yang said as she grinned, "It'd be a real shame if I lost to the guy who lost to Vomit Boy.

"Dammit Yang, that was a default loss!" Mori protested.

"A loss is still a loss," Yang teased.

"You would know about losses Yang," Mori snarked, "Especially that devastating one you had against Pyrrha."

"Oh Buddy," Yang responded, "You do not want to go there."

"I think I do," Mori answered back with a grin.

"C'mon guys," Taiyang interrupted nervously, "We are fighting the Grimm not each other."

At that Yang and Mori suddenly stopped their confrontation and started laughing.

"Oh man, we really got him disaster boy," Yang cackled.

"I can't believe that actually worked," Mori laughed, "But, seriously please stop calling me that." He said as his face hardened

"Nah,"

Mori gave a dejected look.

"You blow up one harbor…" he muttered.

"Wait what just happened," Taiyang asked in confusion.

"They were pulling your leg Dad." Ruby responded for them,

"You guys…" Taiyang said as he shook his head. "Either way, it looks like we are done, so let's get some dinner."

"Yay dinner!" Ruby shouted as she ran off with her semblance,

"Ruby, Wait!" Taiyang shouted as he followed after the girl.

"Well, looks like we better hurry or Ruby will eat everything," Yang said as she made her way back to the house.

She noticed that she was the only one.

"Mori? Are you coming?" She asked when she realized that Mori wasn't following.

"Huh?" Mori responded as he broke out of what looked like deep thought. "Oh, yeah sorry."

 _"Hmm, that was interesting,"_ Yang thought to herself. _"I wonder what's wrong."_

"So, DB?" Yang asked on their way back, "What's bugging you?" she said as she showed him a bug that she picked up.

"…I refuse to respond to that." Mori stated as he folded his arms across his chest. "But nothing is wrong I'm fine."

"You literally responded to me just now." Yang pointed out, "And you have that same stupid look you get whenever something stumps you during studying."

"It's not a stupid look," Mori defended himself, "It's me thinking!"

"So, what are you thinking about?" Yang asked, now curious of what was stumping Mori.

"Well…I'm trying to think about how to get better." Mori anwered as he put his hand to his chin.

"Like as in better at fighting?" Yang asked

"Yeah."

Yang couldn't help but be surprised by that.

He wanted to get better?

Mori was already pretty strong, that kick he did against Cardin was really cool and seeing him in action these past few days she could totally believe him capable of wiping out those White Fang members.

Mori seemed to be a master of his fighting style. So, the thought that he could get better was pretty unbelievable Yang.

That Renewal Taekwondo was seriously one of the cooler fighting styles Yang had ever seen. If she didn't focus most of her strikes on punches, she wouldn't have minded learning it herself.

"If we can unlock your aura you would get a lot stronger," Yang said as she brought up her solution.

"…I guess…" Mori replied, unconvinced of that.

"Eh, even if you don't unlock your aura, you are still one of the strongest guys I know," Yang stated as she gave Mori a playful punch.

"Yeah…"

"Maybe we could get you a weapon?" Yang chipped in another idea.

"Now you just sound like Ruby," Mori responded.

"I'm pretty serious," Yang replied, "You got hand to hand down pretty well, so if you got a weapon like my shotgun gauntlets you can add some serious range." She demonstrated as she threw a punch and fired Ember Cilica.

"It'd have to get the Ruby seal of approval though," Mori replied as they continued their way back to home.

"Oh yeah, she's obsessed with you getting a staff." Yang responded. "I don't know why though; you mostly use your feet anyways."

At that Mori gave a slight smile.

"I wonder why." He repeated back vaguely.

When they got back to the house, Taiyang was in the middle of preparing dinner.

"Hey, can one of you guys help me with the broth?" Taiyang asked.

"Not it," Ruby quickly replied

"Not it," Yang yelled.

"Not i—dammit" Mori cursed.

"Well, Mori." Yang said. "Like you said earlier, you won our family competition, go take your prize."

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered from the background

"You guys are really great at showing hospitality," Mori sarcastically said as he went to the kitchen to help Taiyang.

A couple minutes later the family plus one were digging in.

"So, what are you guys planning on doing tomorrow?" Taiyang asked while the group was enjoying the noodles.

"I think I'm going to hang out with some of my old friends," Yang responded as she loudly slurped her food.

She hadn't seen them in a while and wanted to see what her friends were up to since they didn't make it to Beacon.

"Hmm," Ruby shouted out, her mouth full of noodles, "hmm hmm hmm,"

"Ruby don't talk with your mouth full," Mori chided.

"Sorry," Ruby responded after gulping down her food quickly, "I was trying to say that I wanted to go visit my friends from Signal tomorrow, Would it be ok if I could come along with you Dad?"

"It's fine by me," Taiyang said as he put his utensils down casually. "In fact, it would be cool for the class to see a huntress-in-training,"

"Cool!" Ruby shouted.

"I was just planning on training tomorrow," Mori said as he finished his bowl with a satisfied sigh.

"Come on, Mori!" Ruby complained as she slammed her bowl on the table, "Ever since you remembered your Renewal Taekwondo all you have been doing is training."

"Hey, it's been a while since I've fought," Mori defended himself, "I need to make up for my months of not using it."

"You should come with me to Signal tomorrow and meet my friends," Ruby excitedly said, "I bet they'll think you are the coolest,"

"But—"

"Nope,"

"Are we seriously doing this again," Mori asked with an annoyed face.

"Yuuup," Ruby responded with a smile.

A familiar scene was unfolding to Yang.

Whenever Ruby wanted something from Mori, she would suggest it and if Mori would say no, they'd argue a bit and then Ruby would pull out her secret weapon.

"C'mon Mori," Ruby said, "please?" She then unleashed her puppy dog eyes on Mori.

"…Fine," Mori responded dejectedly as he made direct contact with them.

"Yes," Ruby cheered with a fist pump.

"How has he known her for this long and still not learn to not make direct eye contact?" Taiyang leaned in to whisper in Yang's ear.

"You know dad, I think he knows, but it's become a thing of pride for him." Yang whispered back.

"He's got to know he's never going to win right?"

"Eh, he's stupid like that."

* * *

Taiyang right now was in a panic, for once it wasn't about Ruby or Yang.  
"So, tell me again what happened to Mr. Green?" He asked his fellow teacher.

"Well, apparently for his anniversary he went to that popular Vacoun Place."

"The Little Shade?"

"Yup."

Dammit, of course it was the Little Shade. It was a popular place to eat at Vale but there was a 50/50 chance one would end up getting food poisoning there.

Taiyang remembered when he went there once with Qrow, It really was quite good. He got lucky and was fine the next day. Qrow on the otherhand…let's just say they don't talk about it. But there was a reason why the girls briefly called him Stunkle Qrow.

Honestly with how good the food was, it was worth the risk.

"So, who's going to teach the combat class for 1st Year Primary Students in the afternoon?!" Taiyang asked in a panicked voice.

"I don't know, most of us have classes, can't you?" His co-worker responded back with worry.

"No!" Taiyang shouted, "I have my own class to teach around then."

"Well then, why don't you call Qrow!"

Taiyang gave an incredulous look.

"Ok, I'm saying that out loud, and I realized what was wrong with that statement." The other teacher said as he recognized his mistake.

Taiyang nodded along in agreement. Besides, even if Qrow was not a terrible influences on 6 years olds. Right now, he was on a mission for Ozpin.

Who else could they ask?

It was too late to call a substitute, and like it was said earlier, everyone was busy.

"Hey, your daughters are huntresses-in-training at Beacon, right?" The co-worker asked interrupting Taiyang's thoughts.

Taiyang nodded yes, not liking where this was going.

"Why, don't you ask one of them?"

Taiyang thought about it. It wouldn't be the worst idea, but Yang was out right now, and she hadn't seen her friends in a while. That, and Taiyang wasn't quite sure she had the patience to handle 6 and 7-year olds.

Ruby…she was a smart girl, and she really had started to blossom into a formidable fighter. She was not ready to teach…at all. Taiyang loved his daughter, but knowing her, she would try to convert all the kids to be scythe users.

But Ruby was in the building right now…It wouldn't be too harmless for her to teach combat class once…right?

"Well, Taiyang," The other teacher asked, "Can you bring one of them in?"

Just before Taiyang could answer, the door to the faculty room was opened and slammed shut quickly.

The teachers took a look at the newcomer.

"Mori, what are you doing?"

The boy was against the door out of breath.

"Running away from Ruby," he replied as he caught his breath.

"Why?"

"She wants me show her friends the kick that blew up the harbor." He answered as he finally calmed down., "My only chance was running away."

Huh, Yang was right; he did know.

"Blew up a harbor?" The teacher next to him asked.

"Oh, that's just something my daughter believes that happened." Taiyang replied, "They were both part of the incident at the docks,"

"Oh, I heard about that, didn't they say some stray dust got caught and blew everything up?"

"Yeah." Taiyang responded, "But, Mori here is Ruby's friend from Beacon that's visiting us from Beacon."

"You go to Beacon?!" The co-worker excitedly as he went into Mori's face.

Mori nodded

"So that means, you are a Huntsman-in-training, right?" The teacher asked again.

Mori again nodded, getting more nervous.

"Can you teach a combat class for us today,"

"What?!" Mori responded in shock.

Taiyang initially thought that was not a good idea.

Mori couldn't teach… right?

Suddenly a memory from a couple days back popped up.

**A Couple Days Before**

Taiyang couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Mori was absolutely devasting the Grimm with ease without Aura.

"Wow," Was all he could say.

"Isn't he awesome Dad!?" Ruby excitedly asked finishing off a beowolf..

"I've honestly never seen anything like that." Taiyang said with as he picked up his mouth.

"Ruby!" Mori called out, as he went back to the group. "When you are swinging Crescent Rose around, be mindful of your back. You can sometimes be vulnerable."

"Oh," The girl replied with a dejected look.

"You are doing better though at staying with the group, so good job." Mori stated as he gave a thumbs up. "Your allies could help protect your back, though you do have to be careful of hitting them."

At that Ruby's face brightened up as she gave a salute.

"OK!"

Huh now that Mori had mentioned it, Taiyang had tried to get Ruby to not go off on her own for a long time. It looked like that bad habit of recklessness was starting to get fixed.

"Beacon's really helped you not be as reckless anymore hasn't it," Taiyang asked his daughter.

"Yup," Ruby responded

"You still are reckless," Mori teased.

"Mori," Ruby complained, "I'm trying to show my Dad, how much I have improved."

"Who was it again that decided to run straight to an exploding harbor a couple of days ago?"

At Ruby stared at her feet,

"… I called you for backup," She mumbled.

"And who still can't do anything when they don't have Crescent Rose on them?" He again asked in as he crossed his arms.

"…I'll get better," Ruby muttered again as she kicked at the dirt.

Taiyang couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this interaction.

"I know you will Ruby," Mori said as he patted her head, "You are doing a good job right now."

Ruby again looked up and smiled.

"Ok, you two," Taiyang said as he interrupted them, "We still have some more areas to clear out,"

"I bet I can kill the most Grimm," Ruby shouted as she zipped away.

"Ruby, Wai-, you know what… it's no use." Mori said with his hand reached out. "I don't know how you deal with her every day." He said as he turned to Taiyang while putting his hand down.

"Hah," Taiyang laughed, "You get used to it."

"She's so exhausting at times," He complained, "Actually, both of them are."

"Seems like Ruby giving you a rough time at Beacon huh?"

"UGHH, she drags me everywhere,"

"Still though, thank you," Taiyang said as he expressed his gratitude.

"For what Mr. Xiao-long?"

"Mori I've told you this before, but you can just call me Taiyang. But the thanks is for watching out for her and Yang." He explained.

"It's nothing really," Mori dismissed, "All I'm doing is pointing out her flaws and trying to correct them. For example, her semblance, super useful; but she needs to vary her speed so that her opponents can't get used to it."

At that Taiyang couldn't but internally raise an eyebrow. That was something he never really thought that Ruby needed to fix, but now that he thought about it did make her vulnerable.

What other kind of knowledge about fighting did Mori have?

"What about Yang, what problems does she have?" Taiyang asked probing the boy for more.

"You're kidding me right?" Mori asked incredulously, "She gets really mad way too easily, it leaves her easily open to counters, she needs to stop caring about her hair so much and focus on what her opponents doing. She also leaves herself open for a big blow to power up using her semblance. If I were her, I'd position myself to take little blows to gradually build up strength." Mori said as he copied Yang's fighting stance.

Again, Taiyang raised his eyebrows, he got Yang's biggest weaknesses down and also presented a way to overcome them. That and he copied Yang's fighting stance perfectly.

He seemed to be really good with fighting.

**Present**

Initially, Taiyang felt a little nervous about Mori, his girls were all grown up but…they were still his little girls. And being a teenage boy once as well, he knew firsthand how dumb boys can be.

Ruby was a girl who liked to live in her own world at times and just focus on weapons and being a hero. That's why whenever a boy passed his, Qrows and Yang's tests they gave up immediately.

So, the fact that Ruby actually showed interest in a boy was an ordeal for Taiyang.

Taiyang didn't mind Mori…but there was something about him that made Taiyang's instincts as a trained huntsmen flare off.

But seeing how he treated Ruby, he just ignored those instincts.

He really did seem to care for her, and by the look of it he seemed to really be a help in kicking Ruby's bad habits out.

The difference between his little girl before she left to Beacon and after one semester was night and day to Taiyang, and he had a hunch that Mori was part of that development.

His relationship with his daughters seemed to be more of a big brother instead of trying to woo either of them.

Maybe Mori wouldn't be that bad of an option.

He was used to dealing with Ruby after all.

"You know what Mori?" Taiyang said as he turned to the boy, "We had a teacher get sick today and we need someone to fill in for them. We haven't been able to get anyone, but we thought it would be cool for the students to get a Huntsman-in-training to do a class for them." He explained.

"Why don't you ask Ruby?" Mori asked confused.

At that, Taiyang gave a look.

"Ahh, good point," Mori replied recognizing his mistake, "Still though… you want me to teach, are you sure?"

"It'll be fine Mori," Taiyang said, "We'll give you a plan and everything, all you have to do is follow it."

Taiyang really hoped that this would work.

"…if you have no one else," Mori answered as he gave up.

Taiyang turned to his co-worker with a smile.

Yes, they got the suck-, substitute.

"Great," Taiyang cheered while clapping his hands together, "Let's get you ready."

* * *

For the past couple of days, Mori had been struggling with a problem.

As he started to retrain and go through his martial arts, he had noticed how much weaker he had gotten.

It really didn't matter against the Grimm or the White Fang and to his friends it seemed like he was a freak.

Compared to his prime self, however, he was pathetic.

His body was still a complete wreck and while he had been attempting to work on his control it still wasn't there. He was using way more power than necessary. The fiasco at the docks wasn't the only place he could feel his control slipping, his fights with the Grimm was using more power than necessary to defeat them.

As he tried to practice his techniques in order to lessen the damage they do, he could still feel the power slipping from him each time.

He was making progress in other areas though, his weight control with his half of Ruyi Jingu Bang had gotten better; but he still couldn't call upon it's other half. Hell, he didn't even know where the other half was. That and his other equipment were not coming back to him or being restored.

What could he do to get stronger? He had tried in his spare time to control his more powerful techniques but there was no luck. When he fought, he could feel himself tire faster than usual.

It was like he hit a wall and he didn't know how to improve.

There were a couple of ideas. He could try to make new techniques. But he didn't really know what he can create and how helpful they would even be. There were only so many different ways you could beat the crap out of your opponent

Yang's suggestion of finding a way to get Aura also sounded like a no brainer, it's healing properties could possibly help him restore his full power…the problem with that was if he could even have it.

It wouldn't make sense for him to have it. It was a gift for this world's humanity from the Brother Gods.

That was another thing that made Mori nervous…the Brother Gods. Mori highly doubted that these beings were figments of humanities imagination.

The real question was what kind of Gods, were they? Did they know Mori's true nature and his arrival on Remnant? Did Mori ever meet them while he was waging war against the Heavens? Was Remnant actually their World and they didn't hijack it from someone else? Were they tremendous assholes like Tathagata and the King?

If Mori were to come to blows against any Godlike beings right now, he would be destroyed. That and even though the Grimm so far weren't dangerous to him, there could still be other dangers in this world that Mori would be ill-equipped to face in his current state.

Honestly, it really worried Mori. In his prime he failed to save those who were important to him. If he failed when he was at his strongest, how would he be able to protect his new loved ones in his current state?

Mori wasn't sure he would find a bigger problem than his current one.

Right now, …he seemed to have found one.

"GAH! No, don't mess with the fire Dust!" Mori shouted to no avail as a couple kids caused a small explosion to blow up in his face, sounds of laughter soon following.

"Mr. Jin, could I go to the bathroom?" A kid asked.

"No Baron you already asked to use the bathroom earlier," Mori replied as he wiped the soot out of his face.

"But I really need to go, and I told you my name is Maron," The named Maron whined.

"…Fine, you can go," Mori relented.

"Mr. Jin," Another voice called out "Are we almost done?"

"We just started" Mori said, "We have an hour left."

"Hng," the kid pouted as he went back to his seat.

"Mr. Jin, Kale hit me," A girl in the back complained

"Don't hit your classmate Kale,"

"I didn't do it." The boy named Kale replied with a guilty face.

"Mr. Jin, I need to get a drink of water." Another girl asked.

"Right now, Baron is using the bathroom, wait until he comes back."

"It's Maron!" The class yelled back.

Was this how he made Glynda feel?

Mori suddenly felt a lot worse about his shenanigans he did to piss her off. Not enough to make him want to stop, but enough to make him feel slightly sorry.

"Damn you Taiyang, for roping me into this," Mori thought to himself, "I'll get you back"

It would be easy he said, just follow the plan he said…That was a lie!

It started out fine when Taiyang introduced him to the class and they introduced themselves back, it seems like it was going to go well, the kids seemed nice and quiet…but then Taiyang left the room and chaos happened.

Honestly, Mori would rather have been back in Ragnarok, at least there he could punch his problems.

Here he couldn't punch the kids…right?

No, no, he shouldn't beat the crap out of children.

"Come on kids!" Mori shouted as he tried to retake control of the room, "We need to do our combat lesson today."

"Why do we have to listen to you?" another kid in the back asked.

"Yeah, you're not even a Huntsman."

"You don't even have a weapon."

That last one gave Mori some serious Déjà vu.

Dammit he dealt with Ruby all the time, he could deal with this.

He needed a way to take control of the situation and get these kids attention.

What could he do…that could work.

Immediately going to the weapon storage, he immediately took out several practice dummies, after setting them up, he then went to grab a couple of different weapons.

After getting everything ready. For the first training dummy Mori used the simple technique, **Renewal Taekwondo: Round Kick**.

The loud smack the dummy made seem to get all the kids' attention as all eyes turned onto their teacher.

Mori then grabbed the weapon closest to him, a scythe.

Immediately copying Ruby's style, Mori tore one training dummy to shreds with the weapon.

A crowd of ooh's rang from the kids.

Moving on to the next training dummy, he grabbed a rapier and copied Weiss's precision and accuracy and skewered the next one, up next was Blake's swordsmanship, and then Yang's ferocity of punches.

All the chatter of the kids seemed to fall into silence as they continued to watch Mori go through his combat demonstration.

After going through Team JNPR's styles he decided for the last two dummies he'd show the martial arts closest to his heart.

**Moonlight Sword Style: Bare Hand slice**

Using just his bare hands Mori cut the dummy into half with his barehands.

A crowd of ooh's filled the room.

For the final dummy Mori took a deep breath and then unleashed his attack

**Full Contact Karate, First Stance: Basaltic Fist**

The ooh's became squeals of delight as his punch completely obliterated the training dummy.

"Mr. Jin how did you do that?"

"That's so cool, he cut that thing with just his hands,"

"I want to learn how to blow stuff up with a punch!"

Suddenly the class that had no interest in listening to Mori seemed to make him the center of the world as question after question filled the room.

"Ok, ok, let's calm down," Mori said as he quieted the class room, "I hope that me showing those awesome moves showed you that I can indeed fight, and if you listen to me, you too can do those cool moves one day. Now let's begin by finding a partner who you will fight."

In an instant all the children obeyed his instructions as if they were one of his clones.

After the kids got into the pairs, Mori had them start fighting,

After the kids had been fighting for a while, Mori immediately stopped a pair and attempted to correct was wrong.

"You've got good power, but you need make your form more compact …like this," Mori instructed one of the kids fixing his form."

He then let them continue fighting, before interrupting them again.

"You are really tough and most hits won't hurt you, but it's actually better to dodge," Mori said as he explained to the other student who only defended by blocking "Even though you think you can take it, if you don't have to take the hit, then don't"

"When you dodge you have lots option to do, you can hit like this…or this or this." Mori said as he explained and showed different counters to the student.

"If you take the hit you are just defending and blocking, and you can't do much."

Mori then continued to different student pairs as he fixed forms and strategical mistakes the kids were doing.

"Mr. Jin!" A kid whined, "Can't we do the cool stuff you showed us?"

Murmurs seemed to fill the rooms as the class seemed to agree with the sentiment

"You are right this is boring," Mori said as he chuckled, "But let me ask you guys this, after you learned to stand up did you run or walk first?"

A semi-unanimous answer of walk filled the room, though a few kids were cheeky and said ran.

"It looks like you guys mostly learned how to walk first before you could run, though we do have some geniuses who could run before they could walk," laugher filled the room at Mori's joke.

"Those techniques I showed you is running," Mori continued to explain, "These basic punches and kicks are you walking,"

"But it's so boring," Another kid whined.

"Is it?"

Mori then showed the class the basics of his martial arts…it seemed to work as the kids got mesmerized by his fighting form.

"If you have a strong base you can do anything?" Mori said as he continued his demonstration, "As you build up your base, even something basic like a kick can be destructive,"

Mori then aimed a simple kick at a dummy

"You can never go wrong learning and improving on them." He stated after destroying the dummy

This seemed to have placated the kids as they went back to sparring.

"Remember don't block, dodge,

"Power starts in your feet, then to your waist and then to wherever you are releasing it.

"If your opponent is bigger than you, then get in close,"

"Don't just jump in, you got to be careful of what your opponent will do."

"Good job, that was a nice sound your kick made,"

"Nice work! That was a great counter!"

As he continued to instruct the students, he could see what he was saying was starting to take root in their hearts.

Before he knew it, the class ended.

"All right guys!" Mori shouted as he clapped his hands, "Looks like this is all the time we got it's time for us to finish,"

"But Mr. Jin I was finally starting to hit him!"

"I want to continue punching stuff,"

"We want to learn more Mr. Jin!"

Before Mori could answer a voice next to him spoke up,

"Sorry kids, this is all the time we have," It was Taiyang entering the classroom, "Now say thank you to Mr. Jin for todays lesson!"

"Thank You Mr. Jin!" the class unanimously shouted as they started to file out the classroom.

"I'm going to get you back for roping me into this," Mori told Taiyang as the last kid left.

"What? You did awesome Mori, They love you," Taiyang said, "I've never seen those kids listen to any of the teachers as well as they did you."

"Ugh you should've seen the beginning it was a nightmare," Mori complained as he held his head between his hands."

"You did fine," Taiyang replied slapping his hand on Mori's back, "In fact you did so well, have you ever thought of being a teacher?"

Mori had never really thought about it, all he wanted to do during high school was fight strong people, he did not really care what he wanted to do later.

What did he want to do with his life?

He decided he wanted to be strong enough to protect his friends but outside of that, he had no real plans for the future.

He was training to be a huntsman, but that was more Ruby pushing him there instead of what he wanted to do.

What kind of life did he want to live on Remnant?

"No, I actually don't know what I want to do." Mori admitted,

"Well if you ever think being a teacher along with a Huntsman then in a couple of years come to signal, I think I can pull you some strings to get you the job and the kids will probably love that as well," Taiyang said, "I think you would do awesome as a combat instructor, though I thought the lesson plan today was going to be on swords not hand-to-hand."

"Eh," Mori said rubbing his head, "I thought so as well, but I wanted to work on the basics with the kids."

"Any reason why?" Taiyang asked as he tilted his head.

"…it was something I was taught," Mori said as he put a hand to his chin, "I'm trying to remember where it was,"

_"Remember, Mori if you are ever in a rut and have no way to get stronger, just go to the basics,"_

_"You can never go wrong with going back to where you started."_

_"A strong base is always preferable to a thousand branches,"_

Memories of his grandpa teaching him about the importance of the basics suddenly filled Mori.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Mori's head…Of course that's how to get stronger!

He didn't need to worry about getting an aura or coming up with new techniques or just waiting for his power to restore…he could just go back to the beginning and build his skills from there.

Even though he was nigh invincible as the Monkey King, his strength came from his amazing body and power as a God, not how well he performed his techniques. He wasn't like his grandpa who surpassed humanity by just being skilled.

That was how Mori Hui his clone reached his level as well, it wasn't through power, but instead through skill.

Even though he didn't have his supreme power anymore he can refine what he did have and build upon it.

"Mori, Mori!" Taiyang yelled, snapping Mori out of his epiphany. "You, ok?"

"…sorry I just realized something," Mori responded as he regained his thoughts,

"What?"

"…What I need to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been currently crossposting from FFN, with this chapter, we have fully caught up so the next chapter should be around next week, maybe the week after as I'm considering a break. I should mention that on the end of the chapter 9 at FFN for those who are interested there is a Short shipping Fic about Mori Hui I am doing, it's too short right now to be put here but if you want to check it out go over there. I will post here when I can reach a decent length  
> Beta's  
> Woof28  
> Eliad91  
> Patrician Lurker


	10. A Quiet Day Out

* * *

Right now, it was around 5 AM; it was cold, and Ruby was tired from staying up late last night reading comic books. School was starting again tomorrow and today was the last chance she would have of sleeping in.

"Come on Ruby!" Mori shouted out in his yellow tracksuit, "Let's get warmed up!"

Warmed up…that sounded so nice, Ruby was freezing right now.

Why was she up this early again?

**A Couple Days Before.**

Ruby couldn't get the sight of the triple kick out of her head, there was something so mesmerizing about it…

" _How did he do it again?"_ Ruby thought to herself as she set herself in position.

She had seen the kick a couple of more times during their Grimm exterminations in Patch, the more she had seen, the more details of it she could notice.

Like the name implied it was three kicks delivered simultaneously, she initially thought it was a semblance like Blake's where he made clones that hit the opponent at the same time…but then she remembered he had no aura.

Another thing she noticed as she was watching Mori perform the triple kick on Grimm, was that unlike against Cardin, something was bugging him as he seemed to be trying to adjust where the kick hit every time he used it against the Grimm.

That told her he wasn't just kicking three times really fast, instead each of those kicks were meant to hit a certain spot.

She wasn't quite sure where he was aiming for though…

Still, she took her stance and in one motion tried to copy Mori's movements of the triple kick…keyword being tried.

Instead of a beautifully executed kick, all Ruby got was spinning around.

Falling to the ground she can feel her head spin, she could sense the cookies she ate earlier wanting to come out.

" _Oooh, boy"_ Ruby thought to herself as she was trying to regain her senses while trying to keep her cookies in her stomach, " _I'm just glad no one saw me do that"_

"Ruby what are you doing?"

Ah, Biscuits someone did see her. She looked up to see who it was, it was Mori.

"Nothing!" Ruby replied as she quickly got up and dusted her skirt. "How much did you see?

Mori just gave a skeptical look,

"The entire thing" he replied, "I saw all of it, from you spinning around really quickly, to you almost losing your cookies,"

Ruby's face flushed in embarrassment.

"You, saw nothing" Ruby squeaked, "Nothing at all"

"…Were you trying to copy my triple kick?

"Noope," Ruby said quickly.

"You totally were trying to copy it weren't you."

"No, I was not."

"Ruby,"

Ruby was panicking right now; would Mori get mad at her for trying to steal his super-secret Martial arts…that's what happened in all those movies she saw anyways.

"Ruby!" Mori called out again, interrupting Ruby's internal panic.

"I swear I wasn't trying to steal your super-secret Martial Arts!" She shouted in a panic

"Do you want to learn Renewal Taekwondo?"

"I promise I was just spinni… Huh?"

"Do you want to learn Renewal Taekwondo?" Mori repeated.

"Wait, you are not mad at me?" Ruby asked.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Mori responded with a confused face.

"Because I was trying to steal your martial arts," Ruby meekly replied.

At that, Mori started laughing, holding his sides on the ground.

"Hey!" Ruby pouted "Why are you laughing,"

"Haha, sorry Ruby," Mori apologized as he wiped a tear away from his eyes, "It's just hilarious that you think I will get mad at you for wanting to do Renewal Taekwondo."

"Isn't it how that works in movies?"

"Pftt, movies, is that why you thought I was going to be mad at you, because of pfft movies?" Mori continued to stifle his laughter.

"Hey!" Ruby whined, "Those movies are awesome."

"Pfft… whatever you say," Mori responded as he finally recovered, "But no, I'm not going to get mad at you for wanting to learn Renewal Taekwondo, my Grandfather even taught other people it."

"Oh," Ruby looked down, now feeling embarrassed.

"If you want to learn Renewal Taekwondo, I'll happily teach you it."

"Really," Ruby responded, now with stars in her eyes, "Would you really teach me Renewal Taekwondo?"

"Of course, if I don't teach it to anyone it's just going to die, so if you want to learn it, that's great!"

"Great!" Ruby cheered, "Let's start now!"

"Woah, woah, woah," Mori pushed back, "I need to make a plan for you before we start…how about we start the day before school gets back, will that be ok?"

"Ok!" Ruby then saluted and ran off, now excited that she would be learning Mori's super-secret martial art.

**Present.**

Ruby had been so excited these past few days, she couldn't wait to learn Mori's moves, then she'd be all HA! Hyak! And HWAA!

"Ok," Mori said as they finished strecthing, "Let's start,"

Ruby couldn't wait, soon she will be triple kicking everyone.

"So, what are we going to learn first Mori!" Ruby excitedly asked, "Triple kick first right! Ohh, or are we going to do the Blue dragon Kick!"

"Ruby, Ruby, calm down," Mori said as he tried to placate the girl, "Those moves are a bit too complex for you right now,"

"Ahh," Ruby whined as her excitement deflated.

"Think of it this way Ruby," Mori said as he took up a teaching pose, "You know those skill trees in those video games you play, right?"

Ruby nodded,

"The triple kick is one of those final skills, something you have to build up for," Mori explained, "It's not something that you can easily learn, instead you have to learn other skills to build up to it."

"So, are we going to learn to do the other skills first then?" Ruby asked

"Well…we will, but not right now, instead we are going to something else,"

"What are we going to do?"

Ruby regretted asking that question.

They had been running for the past few hours and Ruby could feel her lunges start to die on her.

"Mo…ri," Ruby weakly cried out, "A…re, we… do..ne y…et?"

"Almost Ruby," Mori said as he continued to jog, "Just one more lap."

Ughh, Ruby was dying.

After finishing their final lap all Ruby could do was lie down on the ground as she could feel her soul leaving her body.

"Mori…why?" Ruby cried out.

"Hah, I take it you don't like running?" Mori asked, completely fine after the marathon they just ran.

Mori's physical abilities were just unfair at times, how was he not dying on the ground?

"I like running…Just not Marathons at 5 AM in the Morning!" Ruby complained, "I thought we were doing cool kicks and punches why are we running a marathon in the first place!?"

"We are going to do kicks Ruby," Mori replied, "however, right now we are doing something to make sure you will be fine when you learn Renewal Taekwondo."

"…What do you mean?" Ruby asked as she finally caught her breath and got up.

"There are three weaknesses to Renewal Taekwondo," Mori explained, "One of those is that it has an incredible physical toll, the only real way to overcome that is just training and working hard so that's what we did so far, just working on building up your body."

Ruby nodded, it made sense, from what she can tell a lot of Mori's techniques seemed to require precise and complex movements and if one wasn't prepared, they could get hurt.

"Wait…" Ruby said, realizing something, "Renewal Taekwondo has three weaknesses, right? What are the other two?"

"Another weakness is that it's terrible in close-combat," Mori answered.

"What?" Ruby said in shock, "That doesn't make sense you fight in close combat all the time!"

Mori suddenly appeared in front of Ruby, completely closing the distance between them.

Ruby felt a slight blush as her head only reached his chest.

"When I am this close, do you really think I have enough space for my normal kicks?" Mori asked.

Ruby looked around her…Mori was right it really was hard to do a lot of his kicks when he was that close.

"So how do you usually overcome it," Ruby asked, curious of how to overcome that particular weakness.

"If you are up close you can aim for vulnerable spots easier," Mori stated, "I usually like to aim for the head though…with you…"

"Hey," Ruby whined, "I'm not that short,"

"Yes, you are,"

All Ruby could do was angrily pound her firsts into him,

"Yeah something like that when they are up close, except you want to use more force," Mori joked.

Ruby stuck her tongue out at Mori in response.

"So, what's the last weakness?" Ruby asked after she calmed down.

"Limited attack points," Mori responded.

"What?"

"You know what pressure points are right, Ruby?"

She had some familiarity with them, if she remembered correctly, they were parts of the body that could really hurt if hit.

"Most of the kicks are aimed at those weak points of the body, so if you cover those weak points it gets less effective" Mori explained, "For example, the triple kick aims at the ear piercing, the temple piercing and the cervical piecing," Mori then pointed out the different spots on the head.

"So, wait does that mean when you were using it against the Grimm, you were trying to find those weak points?" Ruby asked again

"Oh, you noticed that?" Mori responded, "But, yeah I'm not quite used to Grimm Biology…guess I need to pay more attention to Professor Port…"

Now Mori's look of frustration made sense, he was trying to adjust Renewal Taekwondo to Grimm…Wait…Did that mean?

"…Mori?" Ruby called out in a quiet tone.

"Yes?".

"…Your Renewal Taekwondo…it's not meant for Grimm is it…?" Ruby somberly asked.

Mori was silent for a while before nodding a yes in response.

Ruby could feel her stomach start to drop. If that was the case did that mean…

"…Does… does that mean…you…does that mean you…" Ruby tried to ask her next question, but she wasn't sure how to word it.

Unfortunately, Mori seemed to understand what she wanted to ask.

"Yes"

At that, Ruby could feel her heart drop…it made sense to Ruby, she had seen his scars that ran across his body and most of those looked like they came from other people and not Grimm. She hoped that wasn't the case but that was her just being gullible.

"Mori…killing is wrong… why?"

"…I am very different from who I was before."

It was just hard for her to imagine how someone as kind as Mori could possibly take a life…it didn't make sense, heroes were supposed to save everyone even villains, killing people was wrong and Mori wasn't the type of person to do something that horrible.

"…Can…can you promise me that you won't…you won't kill again?"

Ruby knew that what she was saying was naïve, of course he wouldn't promise her something like that, Huntsmen were supposed to fight not only Grimm but also criminals as well, it was entirely unreasonable for him to say he won't ever kill again.

Mori's reaction to Ruby's question was not something she was expecting.

He started to chuckle.

Ruby was confused, why was he chuckling at her request.

"Mori," Ruby said in a quiet voice, "This is serious,"

"…Sorry Ruby, I am not laughing at your request," Mori said as he stopped his chuckling. "It's just…that was the second time someone close to me has asked me something similar to that."

He then put his hand on her head and looked in her eyes.

"I'll tell you the same thing I said to her," Mori said as he smiled at her, "I promise you Ruby, I won't unnecessarily kill ever again."

Ruby couldn't help but hear the sincerity in Mori's words as she could feel her heart rise up again. Mori didn't think she was being naïve or stupid.

"…Thank you" Ruby said with a smile, as her worries were washed away.

"Let's go back to our training," Mori said, taking his hand off her head, "I think now we can work on our kicks." Ruby nodded along as Mori went over the basics with her.

She still wanted to do the cool stuff, but Mori was at least working on the basics with her, so she didn't mind too much.

After finishing their training, Ruby went back to her room tired over how much of a task master Mori was. Just as she opened the door, she noticed Weiss seemed to be really dressed up.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked, "Why are you dressed up so nice?"

"No, reason" Weiss responded, "I'm just heading out to Vale today…by myself might I add."

Ruby looked at her sister in confusion, her sister only shrugged, she then looked at Blake for clarification, the look on her face said that she too had no idea what was going on.

"Well ok…see ya later Weiss!"

"I will see you again tonight."

And with that the heiress left the room.

The girls took a couple of seconds trying to digest what just happened. Yang was the one to finally break the silence.

"Soooooo… we are totally following her right?"

* * *

"So, how much dust do you think is enough for all of Team JNPR?"

"I don't know Jaune, I don't use dust, remember," Mori then gave a small motion to show his kick.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Jaune apologized.

Right now, Jaune was in Vale to get supplies, Mori was tagging along with him because he felt like it.

"So, when does Pyrrha get back?" Mori asked as they were walking down the streets.

"She should get back from Mistral by tonight." Jaune answered.

"Hopefully, you were working on those techniques she recommended that you do over the break."

"Come on, Mori what kind of slacker do you take me for?" Jaune defended himself

"One who spent a good 3 hours playing video games," Mori retorted.

"Hey! You were doing nothing productive either, you were just sleeping!" Jaune accused back.

"You thought I was sleeping?" Mori responded back.

"Well, when you have your eyes close and don't respond, that usually implies you are sleeping." Jaune said, "Though I never knew you were someone to talk in your sleep, saying stuff like, 'dammit', and 'shit'"

"…heh, I guess it does look I am sleeping."

Jaune was confused by Mori's statement. What is he doing if he is not sleeping?

"But yeah, you were slacking off as much as much I was!" Jaune accused.

"See, the difference here is you need the training especially because you don't have any training before Beacon."

"Says the guy who lost to me." Jaune snarked.

"That was by default!" "Mori yelled back.

"Still a loss."

Jaune knew what he was saying was complete BS. Mori could kick his ass in quite a few different ways. But it was the only thing he had over his friend.

"Aghh," Mori complained, "I'm not mad, I'm not mad about that all."

Jaune could tell he was still pissed about that.

"I'm just glad I finally got a win that wasn't a technicality."

"That win you got was completely awesome!" Mori excitedly replied, doing a 180 on his previous mood.

Jaune got his first win during his final. It was a hard-fought battle, but he was able to pull it out at the end when his block caused his opponent to lose their footing.

The look on his teammates and friends faces as he went back to the stands was something Jaune would cherish forever, even Professor Goodwitch gave him a slight smile and congratulated him.

"It's still nothing compared to what you did man," Jaune replied back, "I swear, I saw like three of you at once."

"Yeah…but I'm also more experienced at fighting than you." Mori pointed out,

"…True, man just when I thought I was starting to close the gap between us it turns out you are far stronger than I expected." Jaune complained.

"Close, the gap?"

"Yeah, I always thought you were strong before you busted out your moves, but I always thought it was more in terms of Ruby strong." Jaune explained, "But it turns out you are closer to Pyrrha!"

"You really think I am closer to Pyrrha?" Mori asked as he tilted his head.

"Of course!" Jaune replied, "Cardin is a bully but he's one of the stronger first years at Beacon and you treated him without breaking a sweat, even Yang takes a while to beat him!"

"I mean it could just be a match-up disadvantage?" Mori suggested.

"I doubt that," Jaune said expressing his skepticism, "If anything it should've been a matchup disadvantage for you. His mace had way longer reach than your leg, instead you were able to completely disarm him easily, that shows a vast skill difference."

"You really are good at analyzing battles Jaune," Mori said impressed by Jaune's reasoning.

"Heh," Jaune rubbed his head in embarrassment, "It's just all those video games I've been playing, I just hope I can reach at least your level in combat one day Mori."

"Keep working at it Jaune eventually you will get there," Mori responded, giving him a thumbs up.

Hearing that made Jaune feel happy. Mori was really strong. Everyone could tell from just one fight, even Pyrrha had an expression that Jaune had never seen before, she was visibly shaking in excitement and Jaune was worried she was gong to jump into the stadium to fight Mori herself.

"You know what would really help?" Jaune asked, "If you trained me."

"I thought you were already learning from Pyrrha," Mori questioned.

"I am, but you know…the more the merrier!" Jaune replied, "I have so many strong people around me, it would be a shame if I didn't use those resources I had."

"Well, I am teaching Renewal Taekwondo to Ruby right now but…I don't think it would work as well with your sword and shield." Mori pointed out.

"Eh, it's fine, just you giving me tips while fighting would be good." Jaune responded.

"If you are fine with that, then sure Jaune, I'll help you train."

"All right!" Jaune cheered, "When should we—is that Weiss?"

Both Mori and Jaune turned their heads to see that Weiss was in fact in Vale right now.

She was dressed up nicely, Jaune could feel his heart jump a beat over how pretty she looked.

Just before he could call out to her, he noticed that she was with someone else.

Jaune had never seen the guy before, he was dressed as nicely as Weiss and seemed to be giving off an aura of wealth, he obviously wasn't a student at Beacon, was he a friend from Atlas?

"What do you think she's doing," Jaune whispered to Mori.

"I think she is on a date," Mori whispered back.

Huh, Mori was right they did look like they were on a date.

Right now, the two were looking at stuff in the windows, the guy would say something, and Weiss would laugh.

Jaune could feel a twinge of jealousy, he never could get Weiss to laugh at his jokes.

"She looks like she's really enjoying herself," Jaune observed.

"…Is that what you think Jaune?" Mori asked as neutral expression formed on his face.

"I mean yeah, look how she's smiling and all of that." Jaune replied, confused by his friend's statement.

"…I guess it would look like she is having an enjoyable date." Mori commented. "…Let's mess with her."

"What?" Jaune asked, making sure what he heard was correct.

"Let's mess with them," Mori repeated with a grin and a glint in his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Jaune asked worriedly, "You know she is going to kill us."

"She's going to kill you," Mori replied nonchalantly, "I on the other hand have several types of immortality going for me."

"…What?"

"Besides Jaune, if we don't do anything that guy is going to take her away and do all the stuff that you want to do with her." Mori said, now trying to convince Jaune to join his endeavor

"It's still not right Mori," Jaune protested, "We shouldn't bug her on her date!"

"Just imagine," Mori then put his hand on Jaune's shoulder and stuck his hand out, "They'll be going to the movies, having small chit-chat over lunch and most importantly… be holding hands."

That last one really fired Jaune up.

"…Ok," Jaune agreed, "Let's do it."

With their decision being set Mori and Jaune immediately started to trail the two.

As Weiss and her date went into a fancy looking place for lunch, Mori and Jaune sneaked through the back ready to cause havoc.

"So, Mori," Jaune asked in a hush voice, "What do you want to do?"

Mori was silent for a bit, but when Weiss's date set aside the chair for Weiss to sit in Mori suddenly spoke up.

"…I have an idea."

"What is it," Jaune whispered,

"Shh just watch."

Right as Weiss sat down, instead of going into the chair she fell flat on her butt.

"Gyah," She screamed,

"I'm so sorry," The date panicked, "I'm not sure what happened"

"That's fine," Weiss responded, "Mistakes happen,"

Jaune's jaw dropped as he looked at Mori,

"Did you?"

Mori gave a slight grin as he put his finger on his lips and gave a shushing sound.

Just as the date helped Weiss into her seat and into her chair, he then went to go into his chair…except the same thing happened where he suddenly fell on this his butt.

"Wahh," The guy screamed.

All Weiss could do was stare in horror at what just happened.

Jaune looked at his friend in astonishment.

"They couldn't see you at all."

Mori grinned.

Man, Mori was fast.

"What are you two doing?"

A voice suddenly spoke up from behind the two.

Mori and Jaune turned around to find the rest of Team RWBY behind them.

"Pranking Weiss on her date, you?" Mori replied nonchalantly

"We are following Weiss because she was being suspicious this morning." Yang answered.

"I assume that the chair thing was your fault Mori?" Blake asked with a curious look on her face.

Mori nodded yes.

"Ehh I'd give it a 5 out of 10," Yang said flippantly, "You got the embarrassment part and the execution was great, but it's just so uncreative and juvenile."

"Well, what would you do?" Jaune asked, defending his friends honor,

At that both Ruby and Yang shared a smile.

"You see boys, Ice queen used to have a different career before she became a Huntress," Yang explained, she then pulled a flash drive out of her pocket, "This little baby here was proof of it."

"What is it?" Jaune asked again.

"Ruby," Yang said handing the flash drive to her sister, "See if you can get this playing over the intercom."

Ruby saluted and zipped away.  
A couple of seconds later Ruby returned

"Mission accomplished" she proudly stated as she gave a thumbs up.

A couple of seconds later a song started to play on the intercom. It was a really pretty one that started with the singer talking about a mirror.

Jaune soon recognized the singers voice.

"Is that…" He asked as he turned to the sisters.

They nodded with the biggest smiles on their faces.

Weiss hearing the song got into a huge panic as she looked around the restaurant to find the source of the music.

"Where'd you get it?" Mori questioned with the biggest grin on his face.

"They searched through Weiss's stuff," Blake explained, "they decided to keep it for a rainy day."

"I didn't know she used to sing," Jaune said, marveling at his crush's newfound talent. "She sounds amazing."

"Yeah we looked her up," Ruby replied, "She used to be a musical prodigy in Atlas."

Huh, that was new to Jaune, he played some guitar back home in Ansel, maybe he can use some of his old musical talent to woo Weiss.

Weiss suddenly stood up.

"You know, our movie is about to start, we should really be going." Weiss said in a calm voice.

"But we haven't got our food yet," the date replied.

"It'll be fine," the heiress responded, "I heard this place is really only 4 stars anyways."

"Oh God, really! I can't believe I almost ate this filth."

And with that the two immediately left the restaurant.

The group minus Blake started laughing.

"Pretty good, pretty good," Mori chuckled while nodding. "Anything else we should do?"

"Hmm," Both Ruby and Yang put a finger on their chin to figure out what to do next.

"We could leave her alone and let her enjoy her date?" Blake suggested.

"…Nah," the other four in the group replied simultaneously.

"Well Vomit Boy, any ideas?" Yang asked Jaune, "Mori, Me and Ruby, already thought of something and Blake is looking like she's not going to be chipping in.

Aggh he hated that nickname. Just because he projectile vomited once…wait projectiles?

"Guys," Jaune said as he turned to his friends, "What if we do water balloons."

"I'll get the water Balloons," Mori responded, disappearing immediately.

"I'll help!" Ruby responded, as she too zipped away.

"Looks like water balloons it is VB," Yang grinned, "I guess Weiss is about to get a RAIN check on that date."

"Ughh," Blake and Jaune groaned at the same time.

After Ruby and Mori returned with the water balloons, Mori was able to track the pair with his nose to a fancy theater,

Just before they entered, they formulated a plan. Once Weiss and her date would finish the movie, they would chuck the water balloons with all their might at the two.

As the two took their spots in the front of the theater, the mischievous four plus Blake sat in the back.

The movie was a sappy romantic one, it was a 4 out of 10, Jaune had seen quite a few romantic movies because his sisters hogged the remote.

Just as the movie was reaching a cheesy romantic point, Jaune noticed Weiss's date start to put his arm around her.

But instead of feeling jealous, Jaune instead noticed something else…Weiss was moving away.

"… _Is that what you think Jaune?"_

"… _I guess it would look like she is having an enjoyable date."_

Mori's words echoed through Jaune's mind, as he thought about the events of Weiss's date. Her body language, her tone of voice and the way she smiled…that wasn't Weiss at all!

Jaune looked over at Mori and a sense of understanding appeared between the two.

…3…2…1

As if they shared a same mind, Mori and Jaune simultaneously threw their water balloons at the guy. Mori nailed him the back, Jaune got a headshot.

"I guess we are starting now!" Yang shouted as she, Ruby and Blake started to hurl their water balloons at the duo.

"Gahh!" Weiss screamed.

"What is going on!" the date shouted, before getting nailed by another water balloon.

As Jaune continued to throw balloon after balloon, one slipped from his control, and hit a random patron.

"Ohh man, I'm so sorry about that sir." Jaune tried to apologize.

As the guy turned around Jaune recognized his huge figures.

"You!" the guy bellowed.

It was the guy that threw Jaune during their boy's night…which did not happen.

As if it were Déjà vu, Jaune could feel the guy pick him up and throw him, this time into Weiss's date.

"Jaune!?" Weiss shrieked.

"Hey Weiss" Jaune groggily replied, seeing stars in his eyes.

"Hey! Don't do that to our friend!" Yang yelled as she punched the guy that threw Jaune.

The punch knocked the offender into another patron and a massive brawl started to occur in the movie theater.

As his other friends tried to reach him, one of the guys caught a piece of Yang's hair. In an instant Yang went berserk and massacred the entire room.

Something about this scene was very familiar to Jaune.

Thankfully Ren and alcohol weren't here this time.

"What is happening!" Weiss again shrieked.

" _I'd like to know too, Snow Angel!"_

* * *

"WHERE ARE THE IDIOTS!" Weiss screamed as she stormed into her room

After a talk with the police, and a lengthy apology to her guest, she immediately went back to Beacon, ready to hunt down the morons who made a fool of her.

"I promise you; we did not intend on starting a fight," Ruby cried out.

"Where's Yang?" Blake asked with no concern on her face.

"Oh, I'll deal with you guys later," Weiss threatened, "I need to deal with the two buffoons first! And Yang's still at the police being questioned."

"Any reason why you are going after those two first?" Blake nonchalantly asked from the top of her Bunk, reading a book.

"While I could only assume that the song was your guy's fault, there is only two morons who would be juvenile enough and dumb enough to throw water balloons in a theater and start a fight." Weiss explained.

"What are you going to do them Weiss?" Ruby asked, fearful of her friends' safety.

"I'm going to run Myrtenmeister straight through Buffoon B and Buffoon A I'm going to grant his wish of stepping on him…repeatedly…wearing your combat boots."

"Weiss you can't do that," Ruby cried out, trying to save her friends.

"You are right…Buffoon B is way too durable and cleats would be better for Buffoon A" Weiss muttered. "As for Buffoon B, I'll find something else…Now, tell me where they are!" she then demanded.

"No, Weiss!" Ruby cried, "I won't sell out my friends."

"If you don't tell me where they are, I will burn your comic book collection one by one in front of your face." Weiss threatened.

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me,"

"if you are looking for Jaune he is in his room getting chewed out by Pyrrha," Ruby answered, immediately selling out Jaune.

"And Buffoon B?"

"I won't rat out Mori!" "Ruby cried.

"I see…" Weiss softly said as she suddenly pulled out a comic book. "Do you know what this is Ruby?"

Ruby gasped, "That's a limited-edition mint condition first issue of Absolute Boyfriend, how did you get that?!"

"That's not important right now," Weiss said as she held it daintily in front of her partner, "See I was intending to give this to you, my partner as a gift for how long we've been together…but I'm awfully cold from the water balloons that hit me and I think this looks like the perfect thing that can warm me up." Weiss said as she pulled a lighter out.

"Weiss No!" Ruby whined, "There are only like 50 of those in existence!"

"Is there really?" Weiss said in a high pitched voice, as she inched the lighter closer, "Then I'm sure it should give me quite the toasty experience, though if I knew where a certain buffoon was I'm sure I'd be distracted from how cold I am right now." She then turned the lighter on.

"If he's not in his room, he will be up on the rooftop training." Ruby cried, selling out Mori now.

"Good girl," Weiss replied in a sickly-sweet voice, patting Ruby on the cheek and putting away the lighter. "I think I'm going to visit the roof right now; I need some fresh air." She then threw the comic book to Ruby who grabbed it and protectively put it between her arms and chest.

"You really liked that guy didn't you Weiss?" Blake again asked as she turned another page in her book.

"What! No!" Weiss denied, "He was just the son of an important business partner of my fathers, he was in Vale today and my father asked that I show him around."

"Why are you so mad at Mori and Jaune then?" Ruby cried out.

Weiss gave a look so scary that Ruby reacted with an "eep" and immediately put up her hood to hide herself.

"Now that we have the stupid questions out of the way, I need to grab Myrtenmeister and some cleats."

With that, Weiss was off to the rooftop to confront Buffoon B.

Those buffoons how dare they do that and embarrass her. That talk with the police was one of the most humiliating things she had ever had to do in her life, and then there was Buffoon B, who was so juvenile that he had enough encounters with them to be all chummy with the officers.

After that embarrassing talk, she had to apologize extensively to her guest. The boy was so mad about what happened he refused to respond to Weiss. That or he couldn't respond back because he was in a full body cast after Jaune got thrown into him.

How was she going to explain to her father that her important guest was in the hospital?

Finally reaching her destination, she opened the door to the rooftop ready to beat the ever-living crap out of Buffoon B.

Right as she was going to give him a piece of her mind, the atmosphere of the rooftop got heavier as the beginning of her tirade got choked out.

Buffoon B was in a state of concentration, Weiss could only hold her breathe as she watched him suddenly start to go through his martial arts.

She never really got her partners fascination with his techniques. Weiss would admit that he was pretty strong and the kick that knocked out Cardin was impressive. He was more skilled than she initially gave him credit for, but outside of that, she herself thought his fighting style was pretty barbaric

…But, as she watched him go through his motions, she couldn't but feel fascinated watching him train. There was this beauty that seemed to accompany him as he went through punch after punch, and kick after kick. It was all so detailed and so clean. It was like she was watching Winter train.

Not that the buffoon was as strong as Winter, of course he wouldn't be, he was only a huntsman-in-training after all.

But still, even though she hated to admit it, his potential was off the charts.

After going through a couple of more kicks and stances, Mori suddenly stopped.

Weiss could feel the pressure from before start to get heavier.

Was he about to do the kick that blew up the harbor? ...Not that it was possible of course.

People can't blow up harbors with kicks.

Without a moment's notice, the buffoon delivered another kick.

Weiss rubbed her eyes because she wasn't quite what she saw.

Was it just her or did it look like the space around him bend a bit?

"No, No," Mori muttered, as he put his foot down and put his fingers to his chin, "I'm still wasting energy… when grandpa did it, there wasn't a single wasted motion… I'm moving my arms too much."

What was he talking about? What was that kick he just did? It was a regular kick, right?... So, why did it feel so dangerous?

Weiss was questioning Mori's actions when she realized the oppressive atmosphere was gone and she remembered her initial goal.

"You, Buffoon!" Weiss shouted as she marched up to the thinking Mori, "How dare you embarrass me this afternoon."

"…Huh, Weiss? How long have you been here?" Mori asked, breaking out of his trance.

Weiss could feel a blood vein pop as she realized she had been completely ignored.

'I've been here for a couple of minutes you idiot!" She yelled, "I have a word to give about your juvenile antics this afternoon. Normally I would be the bigger person and ignore your childish antics to rile me up, but today you went a step too far."

"How, so?" the buffoon asked as he put his pinky in his ear, giving off an uncaring aura.

"You…You…That guest of mine was an especially important person that I was accommodating," Weiss angrily responded, "And you put him in the hospital!"

"Technically it was Jaune and that guy he has a habit of pissing off." The buffoon offered as rebuttal.

"That is not important!" Weiss angrily retorted, "Either way, I know it was you that started the entire thing."

"Eh he'll be fine; aura will fix him up."

Weiss could feel another blood vein pop.

"That… is… not…the …point," Weiss slowly stated, "You do not put important people in the hospital."

"Was he important to you? Or important to someone else?"

Like an arrow hitting its target, Weiss could feel the buffoon's question pierce through her.

"…Wha-wha-what do you mean, of course he was important to me!"

"…I don't know about that Weiss," The buffoon answered back. "I'd think that if he was that important to you, you wouldn't have felt that uncomfortable."

…Wha, Wha, what was the idiot talking about? She wasn't uncomfortable at all during her time with the guest.

Yeah, he was annoying and condescending to her.

And she found his elitist attitude unbearable.

And his jokes were worse than Buffoon A's

And she caught his eyes wander a bit too far, a bit too much.

But that didn't mean she was uncomfortable, not at all.

"I…I don't know what you are talking about," Weiss responded in a huff. "I was perfectly fine…though hypothetically If I wasn't fine, it was still required of me to show him around."

"Who aske-, hypothetically asked you to do that," Mori asked with genuine concern on his face.

"Hypothetically, it would've been my father," Weiss responded, "He wanted me to get to know the young man, he was the son of an important business man in Atlas and my father wanted me to get to know him for my…future…this is all hypothetical of course." She quickly added on.

"I guess hypothetically that got ruined!" Buffoon B joked.

Weiss allowed a small smile to grace her face.

"Yes, hypothetically that did get ruined," Weiss replied back, "And hypothetically if I was uncomfortable, I would thank whoever did that."

"Hypothetically the person who did that wasn't the only one to notice," Mori pointed out, "There was a reason two water balloons were thrown."

She could feel her anger start to die down more; it was kind of nice that they noticed that she would've have rather been anywhere else.

"Well, I'd hypothetically thank both of them and hypothetically I'd find the condition of my guest quite amusing." She responded, "…But since this is all hypothetical, instead I'm going to kick the offenders asses…however, it's a bit late right now and I need to get ready for the beginning of the semester, so I will leave that for another time…you should get some sleep as well, it wouldn't be good to stay up to late."

It was too late, and she was too tired to punish the morons.

Mori then chuckled, "Ok Weiss, I'll see you tomorrow."

Weiss then turned around and went back to her room.  
"Hey Weiss?"

Weiss turned around back to Mori.

"I tell this to Jaune all the time, and we don't really interact alone much but…you should really do what you want more instead of what someone else wants of you."

"I don't know what you are talking about you buffoon," Weiss answered back curtly.

She then continued to her room.

After making a good distance between Mori, Weiss suddenly stopped and thought about what the buffoon said.

"Doing what I want…" Weiss quietly said to herself, "…It's easy for you to say, you aren't as burdened with as many chains as I am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter done! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Still haven't taken that break yet really need to though.  
> Beta'd:  
> Woof28  
> Eliad 91  
> Patrician Lurker


	11. Chapter 11: The Great Cafeteria War

* * *

"So Monster, you dare challenge me"

Mori could only stare in concentration at his opponent, it was a familiar one after all.

The Crown Prince of Natak, Ardun, one of the War God's

In an instant, Mori struck quickly with a kick.

"…You are too slow…"

The War God had caught Mori's leg easily before it hit his face.

All Mori could do was once again attempt to strike him again, as he quickly spun around and tried kicking the other side.

This one was able to hit its target…Ardun was unbothered by it as Mori's foot rested on the God's face

"…You are too weak…" Ardun said with a bored look on his face.

All Mori could do was jump back and gain some distance.

What could he do?

Ardun's body was made of Barbadium, one the toughest material in the universe.

He could barely make a dent when he returned to full power originally.

Besides, it's not like could constantly spam copies of Ruyi Jingu Bang, like he did before.

Mori's thoughts on what to do were immediately interrupted as Ardun summoned a giant earth golem.

As the golem threw a punch at Mori, Mori immediately parried its strike with a kick.

After blocking the strike Mori fired off his next attack.

**Jin Mori Original: Blue Dragon Kick**

In an instant, Mori destroyed the summon with a burst of air.

Even though Mori couldn't damage Ardun, those golems of his were still no match for Mori.

"I guess you aren't as weak for something like that to destroy you."

Mori couldn't help but feel disrespected at the fact that the God used something like that against him.

Suddenly without warning, the War God instantly appeared in front of Mori ready to deal a powerful blow.

" _Got to dodge, can't take a direct hit"_

Mori was barely able to dodge the attack as it destroyed the mountain behind behind him.

After dodging the attack, once again Mori tried to strike the God.

Jumping in the air and spinning to gain momentum Mori performed the **Renewal Axe** technique.

The kick caused the ground to split, unfortunately his opponent was perfectly fine as Ardun had blocked the technique with no damage to himself whatsoever.

In an instant, Mori immediately copied Mori Hui, as he used his clone's original technique: **Complete Gift Package.**

His continuous strikes against Ardun still did no damage as the God was able to shrug them off completely.

Frustrated his attacks were doing nothing, Mori fired off a **Triple Kick** against the God.

It had no effect as Ardun shrugged off the hits to his head and struck Mori.

Pain filled Mori's side as he got thrown in the other direction, destroying a couple of cliffs on the way.

"No matter what you do, you cannot hurt me monster."

Mori once again appeared in front of Ardun attempting to prove him wrong. This time he gathered power in his foot as he unleashed his **True Roundhouse Kick**.

The effect of the technique caused a massive tornado to appear from the force of one of his most powerful kicks, causing the landscape to be destroyed and buffeted by the powerful winds.… And Ardun was still standing there unharmed.

"Like I said before, you can't hurt me, your monstrous strength is gone, and your power is insignificant to a God's."

All Mori could do was grit his teeth in frustration as he agreed with what was being said, his attacks had no bite on them.

In an attempt to solve that problem, he pulled out Ruyi Jingu Bang.

"Grow!" He commanded hoping that would be able to hurt the God.

The staff immediately and vastly increased into the size of a giant skyscrapers, destroying mountain after mountain.

However, standing amidst in the destroyed landscape, the God still seemed perfectly fine, as the force of Mori's attack seemed to have done nothing.

"if you are pulling out your weapon, then I shall pull out mine." Ardun replied as he summoned his weapon.

In an instant a Burning Wheel appeared in the War God's hand. Mori shrunk his staff back into its normal as he prepared himself.

Once again, the two clashed. In a contest of strength Mori was losing as he could feel the weight of Ardun and his weapon on him.

Mori commanded his weapon to grow as a big a tower to counteract his opponent.

Pushing the God back with his weapon's size increase, Mori once again attempted to strike the God this time with the different staff techniques his clone had learned from the Weapon Master of the Six.

As he continuously used different types of strikes with Ruyi Jingu Bang, Mori could tell that the weapon was having some affect against the God.

"Enough!" The God shouted as he punched the ground causing a huge shockwave and destroying a mile radius of landscape.

Mori jumped back as his attacks were interrupted.

"I shall end this now." The God calmly stated as he raised his hand in the air.

Mori could tell what was coming up next, it was that lightning blade he summoned in his last battle. The one that cut the Sage Realm in half.

Mori couldn't block it like last time…he didn't have his strength or his armor suits…what could he do?

There was only one option, the kick that saved his life, immediately prepping himself to fire it, he tried to focus on not wasting any power and directing it all for one purpose.

As the lightning blade entered Ardun's hand, Mori unleashed the kick.

Ardun's head was immediately knocked back.

"…That had some bite Monster," The God said after a couple seconds of silence, "But it wasn't enough!" And with that he lowered the lightning Blade onto Mori cleaving him into two.

"SHIT, I LOST AGAIN!" Mori cried out as he stood up with his head held between his hands.

"Mr. Jin, while it seems like you woke up from quite a terrible nightmare, I suggest you could avoid that by not sleeping in the middle of history."

Mori took at his surroundings as he remembered he was in the middle of class.

All eyes were on him, at his sudden outburst.

Both Ruby and Jaune who were sitting next to him were inching away very slowly.

"Since you seem to up now and volunteering, would you like to summarize what we have been talking about in the past few minutes?" Dr. Oobleck asked in a stern voice as he took a sip of coffee.

"uhhhm, sorry sir…I…I wasn't paying attention." Mori sheepishly replied as he rubbed his head.

"Hmm, Hmm, while I do believe rest is important, you should NOT be doing it in the middle of my class" Dr. Oobleck said as he once again took another chug from that thermos of his. "I believe we can rectify what you've missed during detention later on"

Mori immediately sat down in embarrassment as the class was filled with snickers at Mori once again getting detention.

Once Mori sat down, Dr. Oobleck once again started his machine gun-like mouth as he continued their history lesson.

Mori could feel his friends' eyes on him in either concern, curiosity, or in one particular case, disappointment.

He just ignored the looks; all he could think of was that battle he had in his head.

He had been using his spare time to practice fighting his old friends and previous opponents in his head.

He did well against most of them…the problem came when he faced a God caliber opponent.

He didn't have the fire power or the speed to do anything to them.

It was so massively unfair the physical difference between him and them…which coming from him was a bit hypocritical.

" _Aghh"_

That loss was particularly frustrating as he once again botched the kick his Grandpa did.

What was he not getting right? He still wasn't performing it correctly and was still struggling on hitting the right form.

Despite his complaints, Mori could notice that he was starting to close the gap a little bit.

His focus on the basics have caused him to not get as tired and he could tell that he was getting stronger, still… it wasn't enough.

Once class finally ended, Mori gathered his stuff, and was getting ready to head off, as he was planning on using this time to once again train and go over the basics.

"Mr. Jin can I talk to you for a second?"

Dr. Oobleck had called out Mori before he could leave, Mori complied as he went towards his professor.

"Are you doing ok? Mr. Jin, I know you were struggling at the beginning of the year because of your special condition; however, you have been doing incredibly well and have caught up to most of your classmates, that is why today's incident has me concerned that you are falling behind again."

"I am fine Dr. Oobleck," Mori replied as he barely caught onto what his professor was asking, "I've just…been training a lot for the most part."

"Hmm, while it is good to keep constant vigilance and maintenance on one's own skills, it is not recommended it comes at the detriment of one's own health."

"I understand Dr. Oobleck," Mori replied.

"Good, I hope we don't need to have this conversation again," With that the professor took another sip of Coffee and dismissed Mori.

Mori went back to his spot and finished gathering his stuff.

Dr. Oobleckk had a point, it wasn't good to neglect his own health to train…however, Mori wasn't just trying to maintain his strength, he needed to get back as much power as possible as quickly as possible in case something happened.

Most of Remnant had no idea of the powers outside of their own small world and if Mori was not strong enough, he would lose everything he cared for…for a third time.

He had to get stronger and regain as much strength as possible, stuff like history and his health wasn't important compared to training.

"Mori are you ok?" A concerned voice asked him, interrupting his thoughts as he made his way out.

It was Ruby, she had a worried look on her face.

Mori gave a smile and thumbs up,

"Don't worry Ruby I'm fine."

"You Buffoon! I told you to sleep last night,"

This time it was Weiss who screeched at him.

"Yeah I guess you are right; sorry I didn't listen to you Weiss." Mori apologized as he rubbed his head.

"I guess you could say that the professor really caught you napping at a bad time."

Mori could only groan at Yang's terrible pun.

Why did he have to have shout in the middle of class?

* * *

"Ok, so when we meet them, you have got to be cool ok?"

"Dude, cool is my middle name."

Sun had to admit his partner Neptune was the epitome of cool, except when it came to water.

"Yeah you are right, I…I just really want to make a good an impression ok?"

"I know you do man, that girl has been all you've been talking about for the past few days." Neptune replied with an exasperated tone.

"It's just…she's so cool, and pretty, and she kicks a lot of butt as well." Sun said as he continued to gush about Blake.

"Ok dude, I get it; you like the girl, and you want to impress her."

It had been a couple of weeks since Sun's adventure at the Vale's docks and he couldn't wait to see everyone from Beacon again.

"By the way," Neptune spoke up again, "I'm still mad at you for ditching without telling anyone."

"Hey, I said I'm sorry man," Sun apologized, "It was just I—oof"

Sun was in the middle of his apology when he suddenly ran into something.

It felt like he hit a brick wall.

Falling straight on his butt, a dazed Sun looked up to see what he ran into.

"Sun?"

"Ughh…Mori?"

"You ok man?" Mori asked as he stuck his hand out to help Sun up.

"Yeah…I just feel like I ran into a brick wall" Sun replied as he was able to finally regain his bearings and took Mori's hand, "What are you made of man? It's like you were born from a rock."

All Mori did was just shrug, as he helped Sun back up to his feet.

"So where are you guys going?" Mori asked after Sun finished dusting himself off.

"We were going to meet up with Blake and her team. Do you know where they are?" Sun answered.

"Yeah, they should be in the cafeteria," Mori replied back, "Let me show you the way."

"Cool thanks,"

Sun and Neptune then began to follow Mori to the Cafeteria.

"So, are you here for the Vytal festival?" Mori asked as they continued to make their way to the café.

"Yeah! And We are totally going to rock and win it all for Haven!" Sun bragged.

"I don't know Sun, we have some pretty strong people, both Yang and Pyrrha are really strong." Mori pointed out.

"Ehh if Pyrrha wins we'll claim it a win for Haven because she's from Haven. "

"…Uh dude, aren't you from Vacuo?" Neptune asked in confusion.

"Oh shush Neptune don't be a nerd."

"…Wait, your name is Neptune?" Mori asked in visible confusion.

"…Yes?" Neptune replied, also in confusion, "Have we met before?"

"…No, we haven't," Mori replied with a dazed look on his face.

It was the same look that he had when Sun first mentioned his name to him.

"Oookkk" Sun interjected, "Well since this the first-time meeting each other, Mori this is my partner Neptune; Neptune this is Mori, he's the guy that blew up the port with a kick."

"Sun, like I've said before, I've read the report; it was stray dust that blew up the harbor, not a kick."

"BRO FOR THE LAST TIME, I KNOW WHAT I SAW AND IT WAS A KICK THAT BLEW UP THE HARBOR." Sun yelled in frustration at his partner.

It had been like this for the past couple of weeks. Neptune straight up did not believe that Mori had destroyed a harbor with a kick. Like yes, saying it out loud. it really did sound absurd. But. he wished his partner would have a little more faith in him with that.

"Sure, sure I'll believe when you don't ditch me, and I actually see it." Neptune said as he flippantly dismissed Sun's yelling and turning his attention back to Mori. "Nice to meet you Mori, the name's Neptune Vasilias."

He then offered Mori his hand.

"Jin Mori," Mori replied as he took his hand.

"That's a weird name," Neptune commented, "It doesn't have anything to do with color."

Sun could only internally groan at his friend being a dork.

"I get that a lot," Mori replied with a shrug. "I think it's because my Grandpa really didn't care about name tradition and all that."

"But, but…" Neptune was trying to say something, but he couldn't get anything out.

"Just ignore him, he just a try hard" Sun chipped in. "Like his weapon."

"Let me guess," Mori said in a flat tone, "It's part trident."

At that both Neptune and Sun were shocked by Mori's correct answer.

"How did you know?" Neptune asked, he then turned his attention to Sun. "Did you tell him before?"

"Nah," Mori spoke up before Sun could respond, "Call it a lucky guess."

"…Huh, well you guessed correctly, my weapon is named Tri-hard, it has couple of different modes, but it's part Trident, part Guandao and part gun."

"That's pretty cool," Mori said, "Now, when did you realize what the name meant?"

Neptune gave a sigh.

"…a couple of years later, Sun named it for me, and I thought it was cool, like try your hardest."

"I still can't believe it took you that long to notice that." Sun laughed, Neptune gave him an angry glare.

"Well at least you have a cool weapon," Mori commented.

"Do you not use a weapon?" Neptune asked, "What do you fight with?"

"Neptune I've told you this before, but he just uses his feet." Sun said in an exasperated tone to his partner.

"…like shotguns attached to his feet?"

"No," Mori chuckled, "I just use my feet."

"And the craziest thing is Mori doesn't even have an Aura," Sun said.

"Ok Sun, you are just BSing me right now," Neptune said in an exasperated voice.

"I'm not, he does."

"Sure, sure he does. I will believe when I see it" Neptune once again replied in flippant tone.

An awkward silence then filled the trio as they continued to their destination.

Sun couldn't help but feel like he was having a rough start in meeting his friends from Vale.

He really did want to make a good impression but right now it was just awkward.

Why did Neptune have to be such a skeptic to Mori's abilities?

Sun couldn't blame him though, Sun himself couldn't believe what he saw that night in the docks.

It was like Mori was the main character in a Spruce Willis movie.

Just kicking all kinds of bad guy butt.

But even before he saw the guy be totally awesome, there was something about the guy that Sun really liked.

When he first met him, Mori scared the crap out of him. But after the incident of him leaving the bill, there was something about Mori that made Sun want to be around him.

Then there was watching the guy fight at the docks, Sun couldn't help but suddenly want to kneel at his presence…that was a weird experience, Sun didn't kneel to anyone, but his instincts just wanted to for some reason.

Strange incident aside, Mori really was quite cool. Him and Blake were struggling against those numbers and he took care of the White Fang in an instant, that and he was just a blast to be around.

Sun was hoping he would get a match with Mori during the Vytal festival.

"Well here we are," Mori said as he reached the cafeteria door interrupting Sun's musing.

"They should be—"

The door suddenly slammed open.

"Food Fight!"

"Get out, they are starting a war!"

"Why are they that crazy!"

"I don't want to die!"

A mass exodus of students were leaving the cafeteria in a panic.

The trio of boys looked inside to see what was going on.

There was a stack of tables gathered up and an Orange haired girl was on top, chanting something about being the queen of the castle. Below her were Ren and Jaune along with Pyrrha.

On the other side was Blake with her team. If Sun remembered correctly, the blonde one was Yang, her partner; the one with the hood was Ruby, her team leader, who was also at the docs; and the white haired one was most likely Weiss Schnee.

"Justice will be swift, Justice will be painful it will be Delicious," Ruby screamed while crushing a milk carton her rest of her team followed in screaming, "...Oh hey Mori!"

"We call dibs on Mori," the orange haired girl on top of the stack of tables shouted.

"What no fair Nora, you already have Pyrrha!" Ruby shouted.

"Yeah, but we also have Jaune," the now named Nora responded back. "No offense, Jaune."

"Some offense was taken!" Jaune shouted back.

"Well I found him!" Ruby cried out, "Finders keepers!"

"That's not fair we want the guy that blew up a harbor." Jaune cried back. "Besides, Mori is close to me, Nora and Ren, you guys just have you and Yang."

"He did not blow up a Harbor!"

"Weiss for the last time, yes he did." Blake said an exasperated tone.

" _Huh, looks like Blake is having the same problems as I am_." Sun thought to himself.

"BS quality over quantity; he was at our house over break; besides, how is Ren close to Mori?" Ruby yelled back.

"Hello, boy's night! Spending time in a jail cell is bonding." Jaune yelled back, "Not that we had a boy's night of course."

"Yeah we didn't have one," Ren commented on the side.

"Yeah there was no such thing as a boy's night" Mori chipped in with a blank tone.

Sun couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this. They kept on denying that their Friday night adventure did not happen.

"Well let's ask him who he wants to join, Mori who are you going to be join—wait Mori where did you go?" Ruby said in confusion as she turned to the group of boys.

Sun and Neptune looked to their side and realized Mori had disappeared.

"Muah, hah hah hah!" an evil laugh seemed to fill the cafeteria as everyone's attention turned to the source.

It was Mori, for some reason he was wearing a crown of banannas and had a table cloth wrapped around his waist.'

"Foolish mortals!" Mori bellowed, "You fight amongst yourself when you should fear me, the Banana King!"

"Mori, do you truly believe you can take on all of us at once!" Ruby shouted back in exaggerated shock.

"I do! For I am the Great Glutton Equal to Nora!" Mori bragged.

"More like the Great Idiot Equal to Jaune." Weiss snarked.

"Hey!" Jaune protested indignantly.

"Queen Nora, shall we team up to take down this king built upon a clearly inferior fruit?" Ruby asked ignoring Weiss's comments.

"Hmm, Queen Nora agrees, we shall take down this fool who claims to be as much of a glutton as me!" Nora agreed as she now directed Team JNPR's focus to the Banana King.

"Uhh Nora, I don't think being a glutton is supposed to be a compliment." Ren deadpanned with a straight face.

"Who cares, let's fight!" Nora responded back.

And with that, the Great War of the Cafeteria had begun, with Sun and Neptune as the witnesses.

Nora and her team immediately started throwing Watermelons at the Banana King.

In an instant, Mori dodged the exploding fruit around him. While he was dodging, Yang came upon him using turkeys as boxing gloves.

Grabbing the longest bread stick he could find, Mori immediately blocked her turkey fists, and then counterattacked with his bread stick and sent her flying.

Just as he sent Yang flying, Blake and Ren came flying in with Blake using two breadsticks as swords and Ren using two leaks as his weapon.

In a smooth motion, Mori backflipped out of the double team and immediately used his bread staff to send two treys into the two. While he was doing that Ruby and Weiss started their attack, as Weiss used ketchup bottles to screw up Mori's landing while Ruby surfed in with a lunch trey and hit him with it.

Their attack was to no avail though as Mori was able to recover quickly from the slip and he sent Ruby flying with his weapon and used one of the bananas on his head to hit Weiss from a distance.

The next wave soon came in, this time it was Nora and Jaune. Nora grabbed a pole slammed it into a watermelon to make a hammer and Jaune came in with his own breadstick sword and trash lid shield.

Mori dodged Nora's initial hammer strike and parried Jaune with his bread staff.

After the parry he immediately kicked up some bagels near him and kicked them into jaune. Then he disarmed Nora with a swift motion of his staff and with a swing sent her flying as well.

It seemed like most of the combined army were no match for Mori.

Suddenly out of the blue the air tightened as the strongest general of the combined army started to approach the Banana King.

Sun could only stare in anticipation of what was going to happen.

In an instant Pyrrha closed the distance between her and Mori as he parried her breadstick with his.

They would continue to clash as Mori and Pyrrha were matching each other blow for blow.

It seemed like they were evenly matched.

"Now!" Pyrrha shouted as the two were in a struggle for dominance.

All of a sudden, Blake appeared with a link of sausages in hand and Ruby and Weiss were carrying what looked like a big pot full of tomato sauce. it looked large enough to fit a person inside..

Using the sausages, Blake wrapped them around Mori throwing him into the pot while Ruby and Weiss immediately clamped the lid down. Jaune, Ren, Yang, and Nora also hopped onto the lid hoping to contain him.

It seemed like the combined alliance had finally won.

However, at the 49 second mark, the lid started to shake as suddenly Mori burst out of the pot covered in Red sauce and Golden noodles.

"Ow, my eyes they really hurt!" He complained.

The combined alliance could only stare in awe as their efforts to defeat the Banana King had just seemed futile.

In an instance Mori recovered as he grabbed nearby soda cans throwing them at Jaune, Blake and Ren knocking them out.

Weiss grabbed a sword fish as she then attempted to spear Mori with it.

"This is revenge for the water balloons!" She bellowed.

Mori only ignored her as he grabbed another long bread stick dodged the attack and slammed the tip into Weiss's stomach throwing into a wall.

Ruby ran over to check if her partner was ok.

Yang, Nora, and Pyrrha converged on him with Pyrrha using what looked like her semblance to gather all the soda cans in the cafeteria, meanwhile Nora, was chucking her own soda cans at Mori while Yang was making her way to him with to once again go into close combat.

Mori suddenly ripped of a pole and using as many banannas as he could stacked them onto it make what looked like a banana leaf fan.

In one motion, he whipped the fan and sent the three flying in the air.

He had defeated most of the army, except one…his closest friend.

"Mori!" Ruby bellowed, "I will defeat you and prove that strawberries are the superior fruit!"

She suddenly started to use her semblance as she used a burst of speed to gather a small storm around her.

Mori only smiled at Ruby's charge, grabbing his trusted breadstick, the two of them were charging into their final clash.

***Boom***

a dust cloud filled the cafeteria as a result of their clash. Sun and Neptune looked to see who the winner was.

"I…will…never admit…that bananas…are…better." Ruby weakly said as she fell to the ground.

It looked like the Banana King had won!

"I'm the best, I'm the strongest! I'm the- oof!"

Out of nowhere, in the middle of his dance and celebration a giant invisible hand seemed to slam him down onto the ground.

"Children…please," An exasperated voice behind Neptune and Sun sighed.

They looked behind; it was Beacons Deputy Headmistress.

"Do not play with your food," she continued in an annoyed tone and with a flick of her crop started to fix the chaos caused by the Great Cafeteria War. Nora, Pyrrha and Yang dropping onto the tables soon after.

Sun couldn't help but drop his jaw at the events he just witnessed.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" He screamed in excitement.

Neptune was a little less enthused as he wiped away the debris that hit him.

"Yeah… sure." He deadpanned.

* * *

Blake was surprised she wasn't in mega detention right now.

Surely that food fight should have gotten them into some trouble…right?

Either way, it looked like they were cleared from any actual trouble.

"Go Jaune!"

"Come On, Vomit Boy!"

They were currently in combat class right now and the sisters on her team where cheering their hearts out for the blonde leader of Team JNPR.

Blake couldn't help but also give a small cheer, and Weiss herself was giving off small cheers of encouragement.

What her other friends were doing to show support for him, was a bit…different.

"Fearless leader what are you doing, don't just stand there…Hit him!"

"Don't listen to her Jaune, you are doing fine!"

"Jaune, stop blocking and dodge!"

"Mori, you are not helping when you tell him to dodge, he's not going to react in time."

Chaos was ensuing as they were each yelling their own advice. Blake felt it was probably more detrimental for the guy then helpful.

It didn't seem to be too much of a distraction though, Jaune was able to get in close with his shield, stun his opponent with a shield bash and deliver a quick slash through the midsection.

"The winner is Jaune Arc!" Professor Goodwitch declared as his opponent's aura hit 15%.

Blake had to cover her ears from the cheering from her more…excitable friends.

Mori was already on stage, near him doing some strange dance, while Ruby, Nora, and Yang were blasting their vocal cords.

The rest of the group, including Blake were just giving Jaune a small round of an applause. Blake really was happy for Jaune, this was his second straight win and the fruits of his hard work were starting to pay off.

"Mr. Jin, it's good that you are here right now. After you finish your support of your friend, it will be your turn to fight." Professor Goodwitch said as she interrupted Mori's dance.

Mori had a small grin grow on his face as he nodded to the professor's instructions.

Using the class randomizer, she selected a random student from their year.

Once a student had been found, she gave the special instructions for fighting Mori.

While the professor was giving her instructions, Blake turned her thoughts to Mori.

Originally, everyone in their group wanted to fight him, but he requested that before he fought any of them that he regains his sense of fighting first.

Blake had to raise an internal eyebrow at this.

Ever since the docks, Mori had been hyper focused on training…but what she saw during the docks at night was not someone who needed refinement.

Someone who could blow up a harbor and take down 150 white fang members on his own was not someone normal.

A loud smack interrupted Blake's musings.

Breaking out of her thoughts, she realized that Mori had already ended his fight.

It seems like one punch was all it took to blow the student away.

Shocked murmurs filled the room, Mori on the other hand though…

He seemed confused and frustrated about his win…Why was he frustrated?

Shouldn't he be happy that he won that easily?

"Hey Glynda?" Mori asked as he turned to the combat instructor, "Would it be ok if I could go again?"

"Again, it is Professor Goodwitch you, Mr Jin," She replied in an annoyed voice, "Normally it would be one spar a day; however, considering your…circumstances, I will allow it."

She once again called another student up to the field.

Blake really had to wonder, who was Mori before Beacon?

He was not normal…obviously, his lack of aura was already one reason for that.

But it wasn't just his lack of aura that made him abnormal

It was also his freakish physical specs and absurd fighting style. Mori was basically one of the best fighters Blake had ever seen.

Coming from her that meant a lot especially with how many fighters she met during her stint with the White Fang. It seemed like he was engineered for combat.

Her instincts about him were right, he was dang—

***Bam***

Her thoughts on him were once again interrupted, as he finished one-shoting another opponent.

Again, a look of frustration filled his face as he turned to Professor Goodwitch with a pleading look.

She just sighed and called up another vict—student.

Ever since he showed what he could do, the whispers of derision of him had become whispers of shock and awe.

It seemed like the rest of the student body were finally realizing how much of a abnormality Mori was.

Going back to her original thoughts; her instincts were right, Mori was dangerous... or at least he was before he lost his memories.

It was strange how Ruby met him.

She claimed she found him next to a pillar and he lost his memories from the impact.

The part about a pillar falling from the sky sounded absurd, but Yang also claimed to see it, so Blake trusted they were telling the truth about him losing his memories. But the question of Mori's memories and how he lost them didn't matter as much as the real question.

What was a person of Mori's caliber doing on a small island like Patch anyways?

Who was he before he met Ruby and Yang?

Her best hypothesis on Mori's past, was that he was most likely part of a militant group, like the Fang.

Mori was most likely an experimental subject for that group.

Whatever experiments they did seemed to have involved sacrificing his aura to give him his freakish physical abilities.

They were probably attempting to make him into the perfect killing machine.

It really was probably good thing that he lost his memoires of who he was before, because at times when he was fighting, she was getting serious reminders of…him.

Not that the current Mori was anything like him. Hell, she couldn't even imagine that guy throwing water balloons like Mori did.

Her main worry with Mori was—

***Boom***

" _Oh, Mori ended his fight in one shot again."_ Blake thought to herself while Ruby and Yang cheered.

"That moron is ridiculous," Weiss spoke up, "One clean hit… they can't even get A hit in."

"So, do you believe that he actually blew up the harbor?" Blake asked, hopeful that Weiss would finally believe her.

"…I still don't, but…something about the buffoon is off." Weiss said as she trailed off. "Oh look, he got another victim."

It seemed like Mori had convinced Goodwitch to let him fight one more person.

Weiss's doubt of Mori's abilities was finally cracking, Blake was hopefully if she could get Weiss to believe they could figure out who exactly he was before.

Instead of going back to her thoughts, this time Blake decided to pay attention to the match. Once again, Mori shortened the distance between the two.

***Bam* *Bam* *Bam***

Unlike the fights before, Mori was able to deliver quite a few more punches and not end it in one hit like he did before.

"Wow, he took three seconds instead of one." Weiss dryly commented, "Is the buffoon finally getting tired?"

It did seem like that he was finally slowing down form being the juggernaut he was…but then Blake looked at his face.

It wasn't the face of someone being tired…instead it seemed like he was starting to figure something out.

Why on that one though? It took him longer to defeat his opponent.

He turned to Goodwitch begging for another match; however, this time the deputy headmistress but her foot down and told him to go back to his spot.

Mori had a sour look on his face as he went back to his seat while Ruby went over to cheer him up.

Blake couldn't help but smile at his childishness at times.

It really was funny to watch Mori at times, as he never failed in his capability to make her laugh inside..

He was always a source of amusement; from his antagonistic relationship with Professor Goodwitch, to his constant enthusiasm for cheering for their friends and he had a flair for the dramatic, exampled by their cafeteria fight.

It seemed like he not only had received the crown of the class clown but fully embraced it.

Current Mori was a good person...her main worry was past Mori.

She was fearful of who he was in the past and she prayed with all her might that he wasn't anything like that guy.

She could only hope that he would never regain his memories.

Despite all her worries about her friend's past, sadly, Mori wasn't her biggest concern right now.

It was Roman Torchwick.

Even though they captured him at the docks, he broke free from his convoy and was still robbing dust in a large amount…now with the White Fang's help.

That's was what Blakes biggest problem was.

Why was the White Fang working with Roman Torchwick?

The Fang normally wouldn't have anything to do with a guy like Torchwick.

The Fang's tactics in Vale right now were very different than what she was used to. These Dust robberies wouldn't be helping their cause of Faunus equality.

Something was wrong, there was something bigger at work and Blake was determined to find out what It was… at all costs.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TMT here again, took a break because I feel like I've needed one. Hope you enjoy this chapter.  
> Beta's:  
> Eliad91  
> Patricianlurker  
> Woof28


	12. Chapter 12: Gathering

**Chapter 12: Gathering**

* * *

Clover always loved visiting Vale. The city was clean, the forests were beautiful and best of all…it was not cold.

He loved his home in Atlas, his one complaint living there was it always so cold!

"Man, I'm so excited to visit Vale, I've never been there before!"

"Pipe down rookie, some of us are trying to work on our equipment here. "

"Harriet, you're a rookie as well, you only joined a couple of months before."

"Yeah, but you don't see me acting like a rook do you Marrow?"

"Ok, let's not start fighting." Clover interrupted before Marrow could continue his argument with Harriet. "Harriet cut Marrow some slack, this is his first time out of Solitas."

Harriet nodded as she went back to her weapon maintenance.

"And Marrow," Clover then turned his attention to the AceOps newest recruit, "Remember this isn't a vacation we are on a mission, so I need you to be focused, ok?"

"Yes captain," Marrow replied as he went back into his seat and on his scroll.

Silence once again filled the room on the airship. Clover looked outside at the rest of the fleet that the General was bringing.

"General Ironwood is really going all out for security for the Vytal Festival, isn't he?" Marrow asked as he too looked out at the sight of the fleet

"That's just the General being cautious." Another voice chipped in before Clover could answer.

"Still Elm, a fleet of Atlesian warships is a bit overkill isn't it?" The Dog faunus responded.

"It may be overkill to you, but General Ironwood never does things without good reason," Elm answered back with a serious voice.

"What kind of things require a full Atlesian War fleet!?"

"Marrow are you dumb or deaf, like Elm said the General always has a reason."

"Don't give me that Harriet, I saw that face you made at Atlas when the fleet was launching." Marrow snarked back as he got into Harriet's face.

"Get your ugly mug away from me or do you want to be my test subject for my tuned-up knuckles?"

Clover just gave a sigh as he turned to Elm, his second in command. She nodded as she went over to the bickering rookies and grabbed their collars to separate them.

"Captain, we will be landing shortly should we go over the mission?"

"You are right Vine; we should be going over our mission right now." Clover replied back to the only member that had not spoke yet, "Listen Up!"

His command got the two to stop bickering, as all of the AceOps looked to him as he started the mission briefing.

"Our first objective in Vale is investigating the abnormal White Fang activities." Clover started. "Their tactics have been vastly different than how they operate in Soliltas and the first part of our mission will involve locating and destroying the numerous bases around Vale."

"Question Sir."

"Yes, Harriet?"

"Can you elaborate more on their abnormal activity?"

"Good question Harriet, as you can see with this chart of White Fang related crimes, armed theft reports are 75% higher in Vale compared to Mantle while their public demonstrations and other actions like it to further their cause are down by 50%. In fact, a significant number of armed robbery cases involving the White Fang only involved stolen dust."

"It's like they are preparing for a war or something," Harriet murmured.

"Jeez you can blow up a whole city with the amount of dust they've stolen." Marrow worryingly chipped in.

"That's why we are here, too protect the people of Vale and make sure no harm comes to them," Clover spoke up. "We will start our investigation by going to the spots with high White Fang activity and move on from there. If we locate a White Fang base our orders are to destroy it immediately and apprehend all suspects within the building"

"Search and destroy, just how I like." Harriet commented with a smile as she punched her fists together.

"That doesn't seem that bad, White Fang; I've fought plenty of White Fang members before." Marrow replied with a relieved voice.

"And the second part of the mission?" Vine asked in a monotone voice.

"The second part of our mission will involve the investigation of a student Beacon a first-year, name, Mori Jin, we will refer to him as Subject Beta." Clover replied as he switched to the next panel showing a picture of their target.

"He looks kind of dumb," Harriet murmured again, Marrow just chuckled and stopped immediately when everyone's eyes went on him.

"So, why are we investigating a first year?" Marrow asked, curious of what possible reason they were investigating a minor.

"Marrow, have you not been paying attention? There is a reason why General Ironwood does what he does; though captain, what is the big deal about this guy anyway?" Harriet asked after she hypocritically rebuffed her teammate.

"A couple weeks back there was an incident with the White Fang at the docks and Subject Beta was involved." Clover answered ignoring the two's antics, he started to play the video at the docks. "It was a dust robbery of a Schnee freighter, and confrontation soon escalated between the Fang and some Huntsman-in-training."

"The subject arrived a couple of minutes later and confronted the White Fang while telling his allies to retreat."

Mori's massacre at the docks soon started to play.

"Wow, this guy is pretty good," Marrow commented as he watched the fight.

"Ehh, doesn't seem too special, any of us including you could easily do that to those guys, look at how untrained they are." Harriet boasted. "What makes him so special that we are needed?"

"There are a couple of red flags involving the subject in question." Clover pointed out as he gave the reports, "For one outside of his records at Beacon there is no known references to a Mori Jin anywhere in Remnant."

Clover then pulled up the files of Mori Jin.

"It's like he never existed before," Vine murmured as he looked over the file.

"So, the guy doesn't show up on records, so what?" Harriet commented. "There are plenty of settlements that are out there."

"The second thing that has the General concerned is according to the agent that filmed this battle, Subject Beta did not use any aura." Clover replied in a calm voice.

This one shocked the rest of the group, even the stoic Vine was surprised.

"He didn't use aura at all? Did I hear that right Clover?" Elm asked in an unbelieving tone.

"You are kidding me; he did all this without the use of aura?" Marrow commented as he looked back at the video of the massacre.

"The last reason will be shown at the end of confrontation video." Clover continued.

The video then switched to Mori Jin jumping into the air and firing off a kick with incredible wind pressure.

Silence filled the room as none of the Ace Operatives could find words to describe the scene they just saw.

"No… way… Did he just blow up harbor with a kick?."

"Marrow there's no way someone can blow up a harbor with a kick, especially someone without aura; look where they are fighting?" Harriet commented as she finally recovered from the sight she just saw, "Yeah it was a powerful kick, but it probably was just caused by some stray dust lighting up."

"Unfortunately, Harriet, according to reports there was not enough dust to cause that much damage to the surrounding area."

That shut the other rookie up as she looked at the aftermath of the dock scene with curiosity.

"So, what are we to do about him Clover," Elm asked with a concerned voice.

"First thing we are going to do is we are to investigate and observe him while we do our first job." Clover commented. "The General has a belief that Subject Beta may be involved with a rogue terrorist group due to the nature of his fighting style."

"Wait what do you mean fighting style," Marrow asked in confusion.

"Marrow, if you noticed during the fight Subject Beta's attacks were mostly aimed to be devastating for humans," Elm answered as she explained the reasoning.

"I can't believe you didn't notice something so simple Marrow," Harriet snarked.

"Like you were able to notice," Marrow snarked back.

"For now, our only interactions with Subject Beta will be through observation," Clover interrupted before the two could start arguing again. "The only time we are to have confrontation is if Subject Beta shows any suspicious movements, any questions?"

"No sir," The Squad replied with a salute.

"Good, now that we have our had mission briefing, let's just relax as we wait to land."

Everyone else soon went back to their original tasks as Clover laid back and closed his eyes.

Even though he trusted James with his life, he was a bit unsure of why he wanted the AceOps to watch out for this kid. In fact, James told him straight up that Subject Beta was more important than the White Fang.

Clover couldn't help but wonder, Why?

Why was a kid that was a first year, a bigger priority than a known terrorist group.

Subject Beta didn't seem that dangerous and while Clover could admit that he was a good fighter, he had faced worst threats in his mind.

Still though if James wanted to watch out for the kid, he could at least do that.

It shouldn't be too hard right?

* * *

Ruby didn't know where it all went wrong.

All her plans, dreams and hard work had all gone down the drain.

She had lost so much; everything was in ruin.

Why? Why?

How could it all go wrong.

"I hate this game of emotions we play."

Ruby looked over to her defeated partner. For she too had been crushed by the merciless overlord known as her sister.

"Stay strong Weiss, we'll make it through this together." Ruby comforted her partner as she went on Weiss's lap

"Shut up, don't touch me." Weiss cried back, her words not matching her actions as she pulled Ruby in for a hug.

"Alright Blake, Mori you guys are up." Yang said as she attempted to claim her next victims.

Ruby could only stare in concern as the two were both asleep. After Yang woke the two of them up, she then explained what was going on during their board game.

"Hey guys can I join?" A voice asked.

It was Jaune, who had gotten distracted from his studying.

"Sorry Jaune," Ruby said apologetically, "This game is meant for four people and putting Mori and Blake together was so we could fit all of us."

"Well why don't I just pair with Weiss." Jaune hopefully asked.

"Uhh no," Weiss quickly replied back.

Ruby only sighed as she watched her blonde friend get shot down immediately.

"Are you even sure you want to play? After all, this game requires a highly strategical mind, something you obviously don't have." Weiss continued in a prideful tone.

"Uh, Weiss didn't you attack your own fleet three turns ago?" Mori asked from across the table.

"Oh shush you buffoon, you were asleep," Weiss snarked back, "Besides, I don't want to hear criticisms on strategy from the moron who thought it would be a good idea to send a single soldier into an army and expecting him to win."

"Hey, it has worked for me before!" Mori shouted back defending himself.

"When?" Weiss asked incredulously, "Your decision making and strategy in this game makes me really glad you are not a king."

"Are you guys ignoring me now?" Jaune asked as he seemed left out.

"Come on Jaune," Pyrrha said as she came to comfort her partner, "Lets, get back to studying."

"Sup, losers!"

A voice cried out.

"Hey Sun!" Ruby replied back to her friend from Haven.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake, Mori, Ren, Jaune…Ice Queen."

Ruby had to stifle a laugh for fear of earning her partners ire.

"Why do people always call me that?!" Weiss cried in confusion.

Ruby really wanted to say because she acted like one, but her self-preservation won out.

"It's because you act like one."

Mori's on the other hand, didn't.

Weiss's gave a death glare him, but he just ignored it, having developed an immunity to her.

"I never formally introduced you to my friend." Sun said as he pointed out the blue haired guy next to him.

Ruby had to admit he was kinda cute, though based off how much of a kill joy he was being about them playing their board game, she doubted that feeling would ever evolve.

"So, Neptune where are you from?" Weiss asked in a flirty voice after he finished introducing himself.

That caused the red head to roll her eyes. They only rolled further when Neptune flirted back and called her snow angel.

Surprisingly, Weiss did not get mad at that and instead a gave a flirty laugh.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

Ruby looked over at Jaune with Pyrrha trying to comfort him. Poor Jaune, Neptune made more progress in four seconds than Jaune had done in half a year.

He really should stop going for Weiss; but, since he was one of her first friends at Beacon all Ruby could do was support him from the shadows. Though she did try to nudge Weiss his way couple of times; however, the face Weiss made whenever she did that, seemed to suggest that it was not working.

While Weiss and Neptune were acting cringey, Ruby noticed Sun head over to talk to Blake.

She was less receptive to talking then Weiss.

Ruby also noticed that in the confusion Mori had managed to slip out, probably to train again…

Ah cookie crumbles, she had barely managed to convince him to try out Remnant the Board game.

Playing the game was supposed to help her friends un-stress and instead all she got was a moodier than usual Blake and a tired Mori.

"I'm think I'm done playing, so I will see you guys later."

Annnd there went her second friend.

Everyone looked in concern as she left.

Operation get Mori and Blake to feel better by doing fun stuff had failed.

Their game wrapped up about a half hour later and all that was going on was Yang complaining about how Neptune turned the table on her.

Ruby felt no sympathy for the dictators fall.

Still, her idea for a game night had completely failed.

Ughh, why did her friends have to so moody, well from Blake that was to be expected; she was always anti-social and quiet, it was worse ever since her confrontation at the docks but Ruby at least knew what was wrong with Blake.

Mori on the other hand…

Ever since the docks, he had been doing nothing but training.

At first Ruby didn't mind because he hadn't used his martial arts in a long time, so it made sense for him to get the rust off but…

His schedule had basically become, eat, sleep and train and occasionally doing fun stuff when Ruby had to drag him to relax.

She liked working out and getting better as much as the next huntress but, the amount Mori was doing though… straight up unhealthy.

If he wasn't in class napping; you could find him up on the roof top training. It had basically become a second home for him.

Heck, when he visited Patch she once caught him training before she went to bed and when she woke up, he was still going over his forms. When she asked him if he slept, he answered that he lost track of time.

Even after she forced him to sleep, he woke up in 3 hours and went back to training.

His pursuit of strength had completely consumed him, and as a result he wasn't doing as much stuff together with his friends now a days.

Each time Ruby would ask Mori if he wanted to do something with them, he'd give a smile and say not now Ruby.

Every time he'd say that, memories of a figure in white saying she'll be back home soon would go through her head.

The more and more like a hero Mori got, the farther and farther she felt him drift away.

The only time he had actively made time for his friends and was not being dragged along, was when he was training herself in Renewal Taekwondo.

Even Yang could notice Mori's obsession, as she too started too drag him to do stuff to get him away from just using all his time training.

The mask he wore that covered his sadness when she first met him had now been used to cover his worry.

What was he worried about? Why couldn't he tell her, Yang or even Jaune what was wrong? Why did he have to keep it to himself?

What could she do to help him?

Ruby's internal debate got interrupted as she finally got to her room. Just as they arrived, she noticed Blake, her second problem child trying to leave the room.

"Stop, lately you've been quiet, antisocial, and moody." Weiss said as she prevented Blake from leaving.

"Uhh, Weiss have you met Blake?" Yang asked.

Weiss and Yang soon started to confront Blake about her problems.

Blake's problems were easier to detect than Mori's…everyone knew what she was worried about.

"How, are you guys so calm?" Blake asked in a desperate tone.

"Are you still thinking about Torchwick?" Ruby asked,

Torchwick working with the White Fang had really bugged Blake. Ruby knew that Blake used to be a part of the White Fang, so this issue was very personal for her.

"Torchwick, The White Fang, all of it! Guys something big is happening in Vale and nobody is doing anything about it?"

As Yang tried to explain that Ozpin and the police had a handle on the situation, Weiss soon chipped in about how since they were students, they were not ready and there was not much they could. Blake in turn argued back that they may never be prepared.

Ruby couldn't help but feel that Blake had a point for some of the things she was worried about. She too felt something was off about these dust robberies and there really did seem to be dark forces lurking around.

There had to be something that they could do to help. After all what else were heroes supposed to do?

"I agree with Blake," Ruby said confidently as she made a heroic pose, "I think there's something wrong is happening right now and as future huntresses it's our duty to do something about it and protect the people! So, anyone that wants to be the youngest huntresses to take down an evil organization that threatens the Kingdom of Vale say, Aye."

"Yes!" Yang said with a smile punching her fists together, "I'm down to kicking bad guy butt."

"I suppose it could be fun," Weiss replied as she seemed to have been convinced by Ruby's speech.

"Guys you didn't say aye," Ruby whined.

What was the point of her cool speech if nobody said aye?

"Ok, lets hatch a plan," Blake said ignoring her complaints.

"I think because of our status, it may be better for now if we just gathered information," Weiss chipped in.

Both Ruby and Yang's excitement depleted by Weiss's completely boring suggestion.

"That would make sense," Blake said agreeing with Weiss, "I know a guy that could help with that."

"Should we get Mori and JNPR involved?" Ruby asked, seeing if the extra help would be needed.

"You dolt, we are just doing information gathering, do you really think a guy like the buffoon can do subtlety?"

Ruby, Yang and Blake's imaginations soon went back to Mori's persona as the Banana King and the harbor incident, and immediately shook their heads agreeing with Weiss's assessment of Mori's skill fit.

"Yeah," Yang said scratching her head, "He really does not care about that stuff."

Yang was right, Mori was a lot of things: funny, skilled, brave, kind, reasonable…at times, smart(Weiss disagreed on that one), strong, and incredibly well built.

Everyone on Team RWBY agreed with her on that last one, the only other person at Beacon that even came close to as built as Mori was Pyrrha, Yang and surprisingly Cardin…too bad Cardin was Cardin.

But yeah, despite all the positive traits Mori had, subtlety was straight up not one of them. His flair for the dramatic was worse than Ruby's at times.

"And if we bring JNPR I'm 99 percent sure the blonde buffoon will start another fight."

Weiss technically wasn't wrong.

Poor Jaune, it seemed like whenever he did something, the universe had a way of just making it blow up in his face.

Mori and Jaune together just had a way of starting trouble, the end result usually being at the police station.

In fact, Ruby was pretty sure Mori had become pretty good friends with one of the policemen there, what was his name again… Dave?

"Yeah Vomit boy has a habit of causing incidence's," Yang admitted, "Though we should have them on call if we need some extra fire power."

Ruby agreed with that, don't have them involved but call if they are in trouble.

As they continued their plan on what to do Ruby soon realized she was missing something very important.

"Oh crap, my board game!" Ruby cried out as she went back to grab her game, Weiss just hit her head with her head..

Just as she left the room and started to run back to the library, she ran into someone.

"Sorry about that," Ruby apologized to the person she accidentally ran into.

"That's ok," The girl she ran into answered back. "Just, watch where you are going."

Ruby took a look at the people who she ran into. The girl she ran into was a green haired girl, while her companions consisted of a tall guy with grey hair and a beautiful brunette-haired woman in a red dress.

"I've never seen you guys before," Ruby commented, "Are you guys new?"

"We are from Haven," the girl in the red dress commented.

"Oh, that's cool, here for the Vytal festival, right?" Ruby commented, "Wait aren't transfer student's dorms in a different spot?"

"They are," the brunette answered back, "We were just taking a look around."

"Oh, ok" Ruby replied, "Well it's nice to meet you, I hope you enjoy your stay,"

"I'm sure we will," the Brunette said a soft voice and with that the trio left.

" _Huh, that was weird,"_ Ruby thought to herself as she went to retrieve her precious artifact, _"They seemed nice though."_

* * *

The start of the new semester had a different feel for Mori than the last semester.

For one, Yang's assistance with his studying really helped him with classes.

That was a nightmare with how far he was behind at the start of the year.

Another thing was more people were talking to him for some reason.

He had gotten so used to being ignored, that it was a surprise to him when a lot of people that weren't his friends tried to get to know him.

In fact, during lunch today, an all-girl team from Shade tried to talk to him while he was getting his food. He couldn't really remember their names though…Mori was pretty sure it had something to do with a color… which really didn't narrow it down at all.

Actually, now that he thought about it, most of the people that had tried to get to know him had been girls.

He was pretty sure that they were scouting him out for the Vytal festival. It seemed like his Renewal Taekowondo had gotten people to pay more attention to him.

Normally, he'd relish the challenge; but he wasn't quite sure he would even be able to participate in the festival.

Still, it seemed like people were marking him as a threat and they were trying to scout him out… why else would they invite him to do activities with them? That or they were asking him out on a date, but he highly doubted anyone would be interested in him.

***clang***

"Remember Jaune, you don't want to jump in immediately or else you can get disarmed like that."

"Sorry Pyrrha, it just feels so tense waiting for my opponent to make his first move and I sort of…panic?"

"As you get more experience, those tense moments before a fight will become more and more important." Mori chipped in from the sideline.

Mori was helping Jaune with improving his fighting skills along with Pyrrha. He did promise he would do that after all.

"Well, what should I thinking about?" Jaune asked as he picked up his sword.

"Because of your lack of range, you should be thinking 'how I can get close without getting hit,'" Mori answered back as he got into the ring with Jaune.

"So, let me guess, you just speed blitz them?" Jaune sassily asked, "When you are not ending a fight in one punch."

"…I usually just speed blitz them," Mori admitted, "And to be fair I did not end any fights in one punch today!"

"Yeah, instead you ended your fights ended with three punches," Jaune snarked

"Hey, I reached 5 seconds on my last fight!" Mori defended himself.

He was improving! His control was getting better and better.

"So how do you recommend I close the distance then?" Jaune questioned.

At that Mori just gave a blank stare and held up his left hand to represent Jaune's shield.

"Ohh, right"

"Use your shield to slowly close the distance between you and your opponent," Mori recommended, "Once you are in close, develop a rhythm with your strikes."

"A rhythm?" Jaune asked as he tilted his face, "What do you mean?"

"Let me explain," Mori said as he went up to Jaune "You know how in those fighting games we play you like to start with a jab, jab then a straight?"

"You mean A A B?

"…yeah sure," Mori said going along with it, "Why do you like to start with that?"

"So that when I do something else my opponent is thrown off,"

"It's the same concept," Mori said continuing to explain, "Let's, call your downward slash A and your stab B."

Mori then picked up a sword and started clashing with Jaune's weapon. Showing his example and getting Jaune into a rhythm.

After getting Jaune to react to everything by instinct, Mori all of a sudden changed up his strike hitting Jaune in the side.

"Ow," Jaune whined, "That's not fair, I was getting used to…oohhh,"

It seemed like a light had popped up in Jaune's head.

Mori nodded as Jaune had gotten the concept.

"In a fight your reflexes can save your life but if you are not careful, they could be your undoing," Mori explained as he put the sword down, "If you are too predictable when fighting , your opponent could easily counter them…but if they get too comfortable, when you do something different they may not be as well prepared."

"That makes sense," Jaune said.

"Of course, you don't want to have just one attack pattern," Mori started again, "Always have different ways you could attack so your opponent can't anticipate them."

"Man, I don't know how you keep track of this stuff," Jaune said holding his head, "It feels like my head is going to explode."

"It's mostly experience, Jaune," Pyrrha said chipping in, "Remember, you've only recently started fighting so you don't have that intuition yet."

"Well, how do I get it?" Jaune complained.

Mori just chuckled at his friend trying to find a short cut to getting stronger.

"Intuition comes when you combine instinct with past results," Mori explained after he finished chuckling, "The only way to get that is just by continuous fighting."

"Yeah, I've had plenty of fights in Mistralian Tournaments growing up," Pyrrha shared, "Those fights let me develop that intuition for fighting so I don't have to think as much."

"Huh, that makes sense, what about you Mori, how did you get your experience and strength?" Jaune asked turning to Mori.

Wars against the Gods…was probably not answer he should go with.

"I've just fought a lot of strong people," Mori settled on, "Fighting strong people was really the best way for me to get stronger, I always gain something from fighting strong people, I don't grow as much if I don't." he finished as he reminisced his teacher's words.

"That makes sense," Jaune said after a moment of silence, "Everyone I've faced has been stronger than me I've fought each time I've fought; I've started to learn more and more each time."

"I'm sure you have faced plenty of incredibly strong people Mori," Pyrrha said with a glint her eye and a look of hunger on her face.

Mori could only gulp at the look Pyrrha was giving, he knew she had been wanting to have a match with him, but Mori first wanted to make sure he could regulate his strength before he faced her.

"Dude, you are way too strong. Strong enough for me to work up a real sweat from this session and want to just lie down and not move," Jaune tiredly replied as he went to change his shirt.

Mori couldn't help but notice Pyrrha had a look of interest while he was doing that, she noticed he caught her staring and she suddenly blushed and looked up to the sky whistling pretending that it didn't happen.

Pyrrha had been giving that look of want a lot. It would be either for him or Jaune…though her reason for giving Jaune that look was way different.

Honestly, Mori wasn't quite sure how his friend had not noticed that Pyrrha had fallen for him. She would always want to spend her time with him, help him whenever he was struggling, ask him for advice even though she really didn't need it. Aggh, it was like watching Daewi and Mira all over again.

How could Jaune be so blind to the fact that his partner was crushing hard on him.

"Hiii Mori,"

A group of girls called out to him while he was complaining about the dense Blonde.

He just waved back.

" _Were they trying to test my reaction speed?"_

"Speaking of which, what are your plans for tonight Mori," Jaune asked after he finished changing.

"Not much," Mori admitted, "I finished most of my schoolwork so I will probably go train,"

"Are you not doing anything with Team RWBY?" Pyrrha asked.

"Nah, they are doing something, apparently it's 'super-secret'," Mori said with air quotes.

Ruby was terrible at hiding secrets. When he asked her what she was planning on doing, she said "nothing" really quickly and mentioned she wasn't planning on stopping an evil organization.

At that Mori couldn't help but raise an internal eyebrow as he was fully expecting the Red-head and her team to be doing something completely reckless.

They really were bad at hiding the fact that they were planning on something.

From Yang muttering something about an adventure, Weiss tuning up Myrtenmeister, to Blake being in deep thought and mapping something out.

It was like there was a big bright sign that said, "We are going to do something completely reckless".

But they seemed to have not want to get him or JNPR involved, so he decided to respect their wishes. They were strong on their own and could take care of themselves, besides if they were in trouble Ruby would probably call him like she usually does.

Though, why Ruby pulled him aside and asked if her new dress was good for stealth, Mori would not understand.

Ruby was a lot of things, cheerful, kind, energetic, enthusiastic and, even though he'd never tell her this for fear of her holding it over him, a little cute…but stealthy? Nah. That girl could barely move through the halls of Beacon without alerting everyone to her presence.

But it wasn't just Ruby, for some reason all of Team RWBY decided to change their clothes tonight.

Mori couldn't help but wonder…why?

Why did they feel the need to change their clothes for a mission?

New wardrobe aside, like he said he'd respect their privacy and if they didn't want his help he'd respect that and if they needed help he'd be on his way.

"Oh shoot," Jaune said interrupting Mori's thoughts, "I still have my fairy tales project I need to finish, but we are almost out of dust.".

"Wait, didn't you guys go on a dust run earlier this week?" Pyrrha asked in confusion. "And you haven't finished your fairy tails project?" she turned in accusation to Jaune.

"We did…" Mori started,

"…But then we had that thing with the water balloons," Jaune finished.

"…You guys," Pyrrha said putting her hand to her head.

"I can go grab itfor you while you do your project Jaune," Mori said, "

"Would you do that for me," Jaune said with stars in his eyes, "Yay, maybe I have enough so I can salvage a C,"

"Jaune you need to aim high, like for an A," Pyrrha chided. "But we'd be grateful if you'd do that." She said turning to Mori with a smile.

"It's no problem," Mori said dismissing the thanks, "It was kind of was my fault we got side tracked the last time. Besides, I'm just getting Dust in Vale, how hard could that even be?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta's  
> Woof28  
> Eliad91  
> Patrician Lurker


	13. Chapter 13: Searching for Answers

* * *

It felt good to be back in Vale.

Even though Penny wasn't able to say goodbye to her friend Ruby she was hoping to see her again.

Ohh, maybe then they could continue to do stuff real girls like to do, like talk about shopping and cute boys.

If she was allowed to talk to her anyways. General Ironwood was skeptical of friend Ruby and while he didn't expressly forbid her from talking to her he encouraged Penny not to continue their relationship.

It kind of hurt that she wasn't allowed to talk to her friend…but if that was what the General wanted then she would follow her orders.

Right now, she had no orders so she was allowed outside to get a better understanding of Vale.

Her current wandering around Vale was so that she could learn more about how to be a real girl.

After all, Penny wasn't like normal girls, even though she wanted to be like one…she was an android

To be more precise, she was the first successful android to be created by her brilliant father Pietro Polendina.

Atlas had decided to focus more on robotics to combat the Grimm, and Penny was the first android they were able to create that had an aura.

Because of her unique situation, many resources were put in to keep her true nature a secret.

General Ironwood had told Penny repeatedly that he believed that she would be the key to saving the world.

The Vytal Tournament was going to be her debut to the world. That's why she was finally allowed outside of the labs.

It truly was amazing finally being in the real world. Seeing all the people interact, it truly was different than just being given the data, and the information she downloaded on how to make a new friend seemed to have worked wonderfully.

Hopefully, General Ironwood wouldn't mind her making new friends again. She had downloaded more info on how to make friends and was eager to make new ones. As she continued her way down Vale she noticed a group of girls walking down.

" _Perfect,"_ Penny thought to herself, _"I'm sure to make a new friend from those people."_

"Salutations." Penny called out, "You seem to be enjoying something together, may I join?"

This was perfect, apparently, one of the best ways to make friends was to spend time with them doing activities.

The reaction Penny got was not what she expected as one of the girls in the group gave her a look of confusion and the group continued on their way.

…Why did that not work? This was incredibly confusing to Penny. Still, it was only one incident, statistical outliers could happen and she was sure the next group of people would surely want to be her friend after she used the information from her databanks.

An hour later and that statistical outlier seemed to be more of a consistent data point as all her lines and knowledge from her data banks seemed to have not worked in gaining a new friend.

" _Hmm, why does my data on how to make a new friend not work?"_

It seemed like Penny's quest to make a new friend had failed.

Maybe she needed to go try somewhere else?

As Penny moved to begin her survey for possible friends in a new location, she caught a glimpse of familiar wild brown hair. It was the subject of interest, Mori Jin, he was the boyfriend of friend Ruby, yes? The algorithm and databanks said that friends of friends were a good place to start making new friends. Maybe he could be her boyfriend too!

Now, too quickly pull up those files on how to get a boyfriend.

" _Hmm, compliment him on his looks and speak with a flirty tone…sounds perfect!"_

"Hello there," Penny called out to friend Ruby's friend Mori, "Your face looks very visually appealing."

"…What?"

Hmm, that did not seem to work as Penny got was a look of confusion…though he did respond back.

What other advice could she follow…ohh she once saw a Minstralian cartoon and these two boys seemed to become friends right after beating each other up. Maybe if they beat each other up he'd become a friend.

"Would you like to fight?" Penny asked tilting her head

"Wait… what?"

That look of confusion seemed to persist on Subject Mori Jin's face as he seemed to still not understand what Penny was asking.

Hmm, why was it so hard to make friends with this boy, she was following all the instructions and protocols.

Let's see she could just do the standard of introducing herself and asking to be his friend.

"Hello, my name is Penny, can I be your friend?"

"…Wait are you that girl Ruby met a couple of weeks back near the end of the semester?" Subject Mori asked as a light of understanding came across his face.

"Ohh, has friend Ruby talked about me to you before?

"She has a bit; she was worried when she couldn't find you after she left you on your own."

Something about those words made Penny very happy, friend Ruby cared enough to worry about her.

Penny was very lucky to have Ruby be her first friend.

"So, your name is Penny, right?" Subject Mori asked

"Yes, I am designa- named Penny."

Penny hiccupped and caught herself before she could let her secret slip.

"…Were you about to say designated?"

Oh dear, her slip of the tongue was about to get her caught, time to initiate lying protocols.

"I did not." Penny lied while smiling, "I have no clue what you are talking about." She then hiccupped again.

"…"

"…"

"Ok," Subject Mori shrugged after their moment of silence.

Looks like her protocols on lying had worked.

"So, Penny what brings you to Vale?" Mori asked as he moved on from their earlier conversation.

"I will be participating in the Vytal Festival,"

"Oh, what school do you got to?"

"Atlas Academy."

This conversation was going very well, it seemed like Subject Mori had taken an interest in her. Taking an interest in someone meant that they were friends!

"Huh, that's neat" Mori commented stroking his chin, "So are you not with your team right now?"

"No, right now I am on my own, observing and trying to make new friends," Penny responded.

"Do you not have many friends Penny?"

"No, I was sheltered at the la-, at home." Penny hiccupped. "My only my friend is friend Ruby."

"…Well, if you are Ruby's friend, I will be your friend as well."

Penny couldn't help but feel excited, subject Mori was now subject friend Mori.

"Ohh, I'm so excited," Penny cheered, "I now have a boyfriend!"

"Wait…what?" Subject Friend Mori asked in confusion. "Penny I don't think that means what you think it does,"

"Are you not a boy?" Penny asked tilting her head.

"I am but—"

"And you are my friend now, correct?" Penny asked again, "Or do you wish to revoke our friendship?"

"No I want to be your friend but—"

"Then that makes you my boyfriend," Penny finished.

Subject Friend Mori gave a sigh.

"Penny you are technically correct; however, in most context's that word has a more…intimate feeling."

"Intimate?" Penny asked tilting her head. "How so?"

Subject friend Mori seemed to be struggling with how to answer her question.

"You know what… sure, I am your boyfriend," He seemed to have given up on saying something else.

"Wonderful, I now share a boyfriend with friend Ruby."

At that, Subject friend Mori seemed to suddenly slap his face, while muttering something about tears of blood and brother Baijie.

Penny put that interesting tidbit in her memory banks.

"So, have you seen Ruby since you have come to Vale?" her new friend asked moving on from the conversation.

"I have not," Penny admitted, "General Iron—My Father does not seem to approve much of my friendship with her," She finished and once again had another hiccup.

"So?"

"So?" Penny repeated in confusion.

"Do you want to see her again?"

"…I very much do," Penny responded with conviction.

"Then go see her," Friend Mori said with a serious face, "Go do what you want, in fact, let me text her and ask where she is."

He then took out his scroll and sent a message.

"I do not believe it would be very wise of me to ignore my father's orders."

"Look it's your life Penny," friend Mori said with conviction, "You are not a puppet to anyone."

Something about friend Mori's words seemed to have resonated with Penny. She did want to see friend Ruby right now; she was going to do it.

"It seems like you have made up your mind Penny, I just got a message back from Ruby she says she's at the CCT," Friend Mori said as he looked at his scroll.

"Thank you friend Mori, I will be doing what I want right now." Penny responded as she started to make her way to the CCT, "You are a very good boyfriend!" she shouted back.

For some reason, the crowd around her seemed to snicker as friend Mori's face turned bright red.

Penny ignored it as she was now focused on meeting up with friend Ruby. They would do so much fun stuff together, like talk about shopping and how much of a great boyfriend Friend Mori was.

In fact, right now there was something deep in Penny's circuits that seemed to even want to tell friend Ruby who she actually was.

There was something about friend Mori's words that seemed to resonate with her.

He really was truly a great friend, Penny wished she could do something in return for him.

Maybe she could have mentioned to him that he was heading in the direction of a White Fang base that the Ace Operatives were planning on raiding.

* * *

"Good evening Miss Schnee,"

"Evening," Weiss nodded to the guard as she made her way into the CCT.

She did her best to maintain a polite and nice façade, but on the inside, she was very annoyed right now.

The source, her partner.

It was already bad enough that Ruby was a killjoy when Weiss tried to pair up with Neptune, but then she also insisted that they go to the CCT.

They could have easily gone to the library to get the information they needed but noooo, her partner wanted to take pictures of the CCT and tour the place.

Still, that wasn't why Weiss was unhappy, she didn't mind that her partner wanted to check out the peak of Atlesian Technology and she was eager to show Ruby all that her home country had accomplished

No, what had her displeased was when Ruby got a text from the buffoon and then suddenly left with no explanation except for it being important.

Weiss couldn't believe it.

The girl ditched Weiss for a date! It especially peeved the heiress off that Ruby was the one who stopped Weiss from having alone time with Neptune.

How dare she do that!

No, no, Weiss was not mad. Schnees don't get mad. They get even.

" _Someone is about to have a colder than usual wake up, muahaha,"_ Weiss thought as she diabolically planned her revenge.

Entering the impressive tower, Weiss immediately went into the elevator, directing the AI to take her to the communications room

As Weiss got into the elevator to get to the top, she took out her scroll to check the latest news. Surprisingly the headlines weren't the usual. It seemed like White Fang, Roman Torchwick, and the dust robberies were all that seemed to be what the news consisted of these days.

Today, however, was about Atlas. More specifically, the large fleet that they just brought in for the Vytal Festival.

It was the talk of the town; rumors were going around that Atlas was planning on invading Vale and taking it over. Weiss couldn't help but scoff at those who believed that. Even though most of the nations of the world seemed to at least be wary of her home country, General Ironwood was not someone who would recklessly declare War on a sovereign nation.

They were most likely showing the world the brilliance of Atlesian Technology, thee Vytal festival was the perfect spot to show the world how far Atlas had come.

Still, though, the number of ships in the sky had Weiss question if that many were needed. Lesser minds could easily mistake that amount of firepower for an invasion.

Just as she got off her scroll the door opened and Weiss entered the main room.

After directing the AI to connect her to the Schnee Dust Company she was greeted immediately by one of the Operators.

"Thank you for calling the Atlas- Oh! Miss Schnee! Good afternoon!" The operator said in a surprised tone as she realized who connected, "Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister Winter might be here as well."

Ohh, Winter was here she hadn't talked to her sister in a while…but so was her father…she could talk to her sister another time.

Weiss really did not want to have to deal with that man.

"No thank you!" Weiss said in a fake happy tone, "I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a shortlist."

Weiss then sent a list of the information she was looking for.

"Uhh, ma'am," The operator asked in a nervous voice, "What is this needed for?"

"It's for a school project," Weiss responded, "Is there a problem?"

"It's just that you are asking for a lot of sensitive information."

"Well, then I'll make sure to treat it with care," Weiss assured.

"Uhhm ok," The operator nervously said, "The information will be sent over right now

"Thank you," Weiss replied in a sweet tone.

"Are you sure you would not like me to patch you to your father right now?"

"No," Weiss said as her façade broke.

Right as she was about to disconnect, something in the information just sent seemed to catch her eye.

"Uhhm, excuse me."

"Yes, Miss Schnee?"

"I've noticed from this shipping document there seems to be a lot of the Schnee Dust Company's resources directed to the North Sea and all of them are labeled under the name Operation: Giantslayer…May I ask what that is?"

"Ma- Ma'am that is even more incredibly sensitive information, I really don't think I should share that information with you." The operator said as her nervousness got more noticeable.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at this.

"As the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, I think I have a right to know what exactly is this project that the company is spending so many resources on. It's absolutely ridiculous, more than half of the assets of the company seemed to be directed towards this project."

"Miss Schnee, this is really sensitive information. Project Giantslayer is something that not only has the backing of the Atlas military, but also Vale, Vacuo and Mistral." The operator explained, hoping that this will deter Weiss from asking for more.

It did not, all it did was get Weiss more interested in this, what kind of project could possibly require attention from all four nations of Remnant?

"As I said, as the heiress, I believe I have a right to know what my future company is focusing on," Weiss said, "I would like to see the files please."

"Miss Schnee please, this is very sensitive information that is even concealed from the general public," The operator said as she continued to hold her ground.

Looks like more forceful measures were needed for this one.

"Hmm you know, your insistence that I talk with my father has caused me to change my heart, I think I would like to speak with him," Weiss said in a sweet tone.

"Wh-what?" This seemed to have confused the operator at Weiss's sudden change in desire.

"Yes, I would like to talk to him, see how he has been, talk about this project and possibly mention a very unhelpful employee whose job may be in danger of no longer being needed." Weiss continued.

The operator paled.

"Miss Schnee please, I'm just trying to do my job." She pleaded.

"I'm sure you are, however, if I had those documents right now, I would most likely be too busy to talk to my father about the state of his employees," Weiss replied with her thinly veiled threat.

Of course, this was a bluff. Weiss had no intention of talking to her father right now. In fact, if the operator stood her ground, Weiss would just give up and try to find another way to find out about this project.

"…I'll send the files on Project Giant Slayer right now," The operator sighed as she gave up.

" _Perfect."_

It seemed like her father's lessons on how to get people to do what you want had worked.

Weiss didn't like the feeling she got, but this project seemed way too strange to just leave it on its own.

"Thank you very much," Weiss said once the download was complete. "I'll be sure to mention how great of a help you were next time I speak with my father."

"Yes, Miss Schnee," The operator replied in a depressed tone all the happiness seemed to have been drained, "I hope you enjoy your day."

After getting the information she needed Weiss sent a message to her partner that she got the info and to meet her at the CCT.

Reaching the bottom of the tower, Weiss decided to check out the files on Operation Giantslayer.

Pulling the files on her scroll she started to read them to figure out what it was. The project seemed pretty normal at first. It was related to the huge tsunami that hit the coasts of both Atlas and Vale.

Weiss remembered that the incident was huge news for a while and evacuation efforts were needed in certain coastal settlements.

She continued to read the initial report. It seemed like the cause of the Tsunami was caused by abnormal events. There seemed to have been no major plates moving around the area and so it was theorized that there was a huge displacement that caused the massive waves, a search team was sent to investigate the source.

As Weiss opened up the next file to see what the search team found, she let out a gasp of shock.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

The object that caused the Tsunami didn't seem to be real…It was a giant pillar!

No, giant was too small, it was massive, taller than all the CCT's in the world combined.

Weiss had never seen anything like it before. If it wasn't so far out in the ocean she could probably see it from the tower.

She continued to read the report. Four Atlesian Battleships couldn't move it, they tried to blow it up but not even a budge was made. Even mass amounts of Gravity dust couldn't make the thing budge.

She continued to read; the material the pillar was made of seemed to be made of a completely unknown.

Just what exactly was that giant pillar…and why did those words seem so familiar? Wasn't it around the beginning of the school year? Weiss recalled a conversation they had at the beginning of the year.

**Beginning of the Semester**

"And then all of a sudden, after the boom he was completely unhurt." Ruby excitedly said as she finished her story.

"Hmm, that is very interesting," Blake said as she continued to read her book.

"I'm sorry what are you talking about again?" Weiss asked looking up from her textbook. She stopped paying attention to her partner's story a long time ago.

"Weiss, I was talking about how I met Mori," Ruby whined. "And how we got to Beacon."

"I stopped paying attention when you said the buffoon got hit by a rock," Weiss dismissed.

"Actually, Weiss it was a giant pillar," Ruby corrected, "And stop calling him a buffoon, he's not an idiot."

Weiss internally rolled her eyes.

"Yes Ruby, a giant pillar hit your boyfriend, makes total sense."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Ruby shrieked as she threw her pillow at Weiss.

Weiss ducked the projectile as she continued on her homework.

"She's not lying Ice Queen," Yang spoke up, "There really was a giant pillar."

"Stop calling me that," Weiss barked, "And where pray tell is this giant pillar, do you have pictures of it?"

"Well, we didn't take any pictures initially because we wanted to get Mori to a safe place," Yang replied, "But when me and my dad went to go check it out, it suddenly up and disappeared!"

Weiss again rolled her eyes.

"Sure, a giant pillar hits the buffoon and suddenly up and disappears, it makes perfect sense." She snarked.

"I know it sounds strange, but it was the freakiest thing I had ever seen." Yang said in a panicked voice, "It moved right in front of us."

"Sure, sure," Weiss said as she dismissed the two, "Next you'll tell me the idiot blew up a harbor with a punch."

"Hah, like that will ever happen," Blake chuckled from her bunk.

"It's the truth!" Ruby and Yang responded, "he really did get hit by a giant pillar."

**Present**

That's where she heard about the pillar before! The buffoon got hit by it!

Wait, that didn't make sense, the pillar she saw on the photos would have absolutely killed him if it landed on him, actually, it would have destroyed Vale.

…Was it a different and smaller pillar? …were there more pillars like it?

She would need to ask the sisters about the pillar they found and maybe show them the one in the North Sea.

Actually, looking at the dates Weiss noticed that the giant one fell around the same time the sisters found the buffoon.

That was an incredibly odd coincidence.

Now that she thought about it, the buffoon was just wrapped in mystery.

Found after getting hit by a massive pillar, someone of his level of skill being unknown, and then there was his freakish physical abilities that shouldn't even be possible.

Nothing about the buffoon made sense.

It was like he wasn't even human.

All these thoughts just got Weiss thinking.

Just who exactly was Jin Mori?

* * *

Mori didn't know exactly where he was right now.

It was supposed to be a simple task. Grab dust for Team JNPR and go home.

So, how did he end up like this?

Normally he'd go to any ole dust shop, but apparently, there was this special shop Nora insisted he buy the dust from.

When he asked what made it special, she said the lightning dust tasted better from there.

That resulted in him getting lost trying to find the damn place.

Then while trying to find the place, he had one of the weirdest interactions in his life.

And coming from him that meant something.

He had heard about Penny from Ruby before and Ruby said the girl was a little strange…but he wasn't expecting that.

He had seen Jaune's tragic efforts to woo Weiss and that didn't even come close to the interaction he just got.

Penny was a nice girl though, and he could see why Ruby was able to make friends with her quite easily.

There was something about her that reminded Mori of his clone Hui Mori.

It was probably the fact that she wasn't a normal person.

When he meant not a normal person it wasn't about her personality, even though it was a little weird.

What Mori meant by not being a normal person was that he was ninety-nine percent sure that Penny was a robot.

There were a couple of different signs that said that. For one, her strange speech patterns, and two her body composition was mostly metallic.

Still, even though she was a robot Mori still considered her pretty real.

When you make an impact on people's lives and people remember your actions how could you not have existed?

Just because she wasn't born like a standard person didn't mean jack. Jin Mori knew that more than anyone else.

After all, his clone Hui Mori was one of the realest people Jin Mori had ever known.

Hui Mori made a bigger impact than he ever did. While his friends were bleeding and dying it was Hui Mori who was the hero. Jin Mori could only watch in despair stuck in the God Realm.

His impact and the lives he touched proved that he existed.

Even though Mori hadn't known Penny that long, he could tell that she at least touched Ruby's life.

He was glad that he was able to convince Penny to go talk to Ruby, even though whoever was in charge of her didn't want her to.

It did not matter that she wasn't born normally. She still had a life and the ability to choose what she wanted to do with it belonged to her, not whoever Ironwood was.

Mori was glad that he made a new friend even though the start of it would be filed away under could've been better.

He hoped he'd be able to see Penny again.

Though, her father should really correct her on what a boyfriend was, also helping her out with conversation starters wouldn't hurt.

"Die, intruder!"

Mori's thoughts on Penny were soon interrupted as he dodged an attack from a White Fang grunt and knocked him out.

Why was he getting attacked again?

…Oh yeah, it was after Penny left him to go meet up with Ruby.

As he continued to find that damn dust shop, he noticed one of the buildings had an abnormal amount of Faunus.

Normally, he'd just ignore it and go on his way, but he noticed that one of them had the insignia of that group the White Fang.

Mori didn't really know much about the Fang outside of the fact that Blake used to a part of them and they were a group that fought for Faunus equality.

But they were causing his friend a lot of heartache and pain so he thought to himself, he could just quickly clear out the place for her.

Normally, vigilantism was against the law.

But he was pretty sure he was allowed to apprehend them since he was a student at Beacon…actually, he'd have to ask Dave from the police station to make sure of that.

" _How is Dave doing anyways?"_ Mori thought as he dodged more White Fang bullets.

He quickly disarmed the gunmen and knocked them out.

" _I think he's expecting a kid soon,"_ Mori pondered as he continued his systematic dismantling of the base.

" _Hopefully, the birth goes well."_

He thought to himself as he finished clearing the floor he was on.

"…Wwh-whyy?" A grunt weakly called out from the ground.

Mori only shrugged as the grunt fainted.

He really had no grudge against the White Fang themselves. In fact, he sort of could sympathize with them a little bit.

He did after all lead his people in a war against the Heavens.

Though, the Fang's reason for raging war was far nobler than his reason.

He could still remember Pilmaon his successor's face, as he angrily accused him of starting an unnecessary war.

Man, his past life as Sun Wu-Kong really caused a lot of trouble for people.

The God's deserved it for how big assholes they were, but he certainly wasn't a good person as well.

"Someone stop this monster!" Another White Fang grunt cried out as Mori went to the next floor.

"Who is this demon!"

"Isn't this the guy who destroyed that section of the Fang at the Docks!?"

Bullets filled the hallway as they tried in vain to stop Mori. Mori continued to dodge them with ease as he ran across the wall.

Reaching the shooters in one smooth movement Mori knocked one grunt out with **Renewal Fang** , the next with **Baekdu,** and the last guy was hit with a **Triple Kick**.

Mori couldn't help but internally smile to himself. His movements were getting a lot cleaner and his control had vastly improved.

His level of skill was getting better.

Sounds of gunfire and screams of terror continued to fill the building as the former Monkey King continued to wipe out grunt after grunt.

It was only a couple of minutes later when he finally finished wiping out the base.

Taking a look at his handiwork he couldn't help but smile while also feeling a twinge of guilt.

He really had no issue with the Fang, the only reason he was even fighting them was that they were a threat to his friends.

He could understand and empathize with their desire for equality. He had seen how Faunus were treated and he didn't like it one bit. They were people as well and they deserved to be treated like it.

Actually, now that he thought about it…did Mori count as a Faunus?

He was technically a Monkey from the Sage Realm, but he didn't exactly have any monkey traits. He was obviously not human, and since his powers were stripped, he wasn't a god anymore either.

What exactly was he?

"M-m-monster," A Fang member cried weakly from the ground.

Hmm, he'd have to figure out what he was another time.

After all, he could sense that there were still five people left in the building.

Though…for some reason, only one of them was a Faunus.

"Well, this is unexpected." A voice from the darkness called out.

Mori's instincts went into high alert as he turned towards the source.

It was a brown-haired man in a white uniform.

"Wait, Captain, isn't that subject Beta?" another voice popped in as a young dog Faunus entered the room.

"Marrow are you blind, of course, it is," A female voice spoke up, this time it was a shorthaired girl.

"Harriet you don't have to be so mean, I'm just checking," The now named Marrow responded back to the girl named Harriet.

"It seems like Subject Beta is involved with the Fang in some way." A fourth voice calmly joined in. It was an incredibly pale man.

"So, Clover should we take him in?" A different female voice asked as the last of the five people left in the building entered Mori's field of vision.

"Hmm, General Ironwood did say that if we had the chance we should bring him in." The leader named Clover said as he continued to stare at Mori.

Mori's eyes narrowed as he listened in to their conversation

Bring him in?

It seems like this group knew who Mori was and he was a priority to them.

And there was that name General Ironwood again, who exactly was that man?

Mori's instincts went into battle mode as he knew it was a bad idea to have idle thoughts if he had to fight this group.

There was a different feel to them compared to the grunts he had just finished fighting

They were trained and trained well.

"So, Mori Jin, correct?" Clover asked.

Mori nodded in response as he continued to stare at the potential threats.

"What's a young huntsman in training like you doing in a White Fang base like this?"

"If I said I was clearing it for a friend would you believe me?"

"Sort of, however, we would be interested in knowing about this friend of yours as well."

"And may I ask who are you guys to be so interested in my friends?" Mori asked as he tried to figure out who this group was.

"Oh, we aren't a shady group, we work for Atlas." Clover replied as he tried to clear the tension in the room, "We just wanted to ask you some questions and then you could be on your way."

Mori relaxed a little. Looks like they weren't looking for a fight particularly and he could tell they were telling the truth. He had seen that insignia they were wearing on Weiss's stuff before.

He didn't need to pick a fight that was unnecessary. They probably just wanted to ask him about the incidents at the docks. After all, that freighter he blew up did belong to Atlas.

Just before he could agree to go with them, his scroll started to ring Mori took a look and realized it was Ruby calling. Mori immediately answered it.

"Mori, Blake is in trouble, downtown…we need your help!" Ruby cried out.

"I'll be on my way!" Mori replied quickly.

Dammit, Ruby what did you get yourself into?

"Did he just pick up his scroll in the middle of our conversation?" The dog Faunus asked.

"Captain! Are we just going to ignore the fact that he just pulled his scroll out and completely ignored us?" Harriet shrieked.

"That's a pretty ballsy move answering your scroll in the middle of an interrogation," The other woman remarked.

Mori just ignored them as he put away his scroll and looked back at the leader.

"I'm sorry right now isn't the best time I have a friend that needs help," Mori told the leader.

"…I see," Clover replied back softly, "Normally I'd let you go; however, you just completely destroyed a White Fang base without authorization and for what I feel like is pretty shifty motives…this feels suspicious and I'm sorry I can't exactly let that slide."

"Sir, I really need to go help my friends," Mori pleaded.

"I'm sure these 'friends' need all the help they could get."

Mori's senses went back on alert as he could hear the rest of the group ready their weapons.

Something told him he wasn't going to have the time to be able to get that dust for JNPR

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd:  
> Woof28  
> Eliad91  
> Patrician Lurker


	14. Chapter 14: Close to Ideal

**Chapter 14: Close to Ideal**

* * *

Clover really was not expecting to come into contact with Mori Jin so quickly.

It wasn't really good or bad just… unexpected.

The AceOps initial plan had been to raid a couple of bases, once they landed in Vale and once that objective had been completed, they were then to begin their observation of Subject Beta.

The first part of the plan went accordingly. They found the bases through their intel and began their systematic wiping out of them.

This was supposed to be the last base on the list, and it was apparently the largest of them.

It was not going to be an easy base to wipe out.

So, imagine his surprise when they came into the first floor and being greeted to just a string of bodies, all of whom were White Fang members.

Initially, Clover wondered if Vale was conducting their own raids on bases, but that went out the window when all the responses he could gather from the Fang members that were more conscious were just "monster", and "couldn't be stopped."

Each floor was more or less the same, walls with bullets in them and White Fang members that were either unconscious or unable to move, but traumatized.

When they reached the final floor who else is it but Subject Beta himself, Mori Jin.

On the inside Clover couldn't help but be impressed the kid, wiping out a base full of enemy personnel was pretty impressive on its own, but also keeping them alive?

The kid had skills.

Still, it was really suspicious that he decided to go destroy a White Fang Base on his volition and his reason for doing it was as a favor for a "Friend".

Now, Clover really didn't know many teenagers, but usually favors consisted of getting dust or helping someone with their homework.

Not taking down a terrorist organization.

Did the organization behind Mori Jin order him to destroy the base?

What kind of agenda did they have against the White Fang?

Either way, this was the perfect opportunity for them to bring the boy in and question him.

Then he did something Clover had never quite seen before.

He answered his scroll in the middle of their conversation…Clover wasn't quite sure if he should have felt annoyed by the lack of respect shown by the kid or amused that the kid had the balls to do that.

Clover wasn't quite sure who was on the other side of the phone, but it sounded like it was the organization behind Subject Beta, they seemed to have been involved in a situation and they needed their top agent immediately.

"Sir, this is really important, I really do need to go help out my friends."

"Likely story, you are just trying to escape." Harriet snarked as she got her knuckles ready.

"…What if he really does need to go help his friends out?" Marrow asked with a concerned face.

"Thank you!"

"Marrow, stop being so soft, and ready your weapon." Harriet snapped.

"I really do not want to fight right now."

Clover could tell the boy meant it, but orders were orders and Mori Jin's actions were way too suspicious to let him go off scot-free.

Silence filled the room as the combatants stared at each other.

In an instant, the fight began.

Harriet was the first one to make a move as she used her semblance to deliver a quick and heavy strike.

The floor underneath Subject Beta shattered under the weight of her fist.

Her initial strike didn't seem to do much as it was met with a block.

That was surprising to Clover. Not only did Mori Jin blocked Harriet's powerful attack with little damage to him, but he was also actually able to react to Harriet's attack.

Clover already knew from their breakdown of him that he had an incredibly durable body, but to also have the reflexes to react to Harriet's attack?

Not many Huntsman could react to her speed, it was one of the fastest semblances Clover had witnessed.

Harriet also had a shocked face as she quickly got out of way as the target attempted to deliver a counterattack.

Clover then charged to support Harriet while Elm, Marrow, and Vine provided long-range support.

Using Kingfisher's fishing line Clover kept a midlevel distance from the target while Harriet attempted to continue to pester him with her fists.

All the boy could really do was dodge and every time he tried to counter-attack he would be met with more bullets and rockets with Vine neutralizing his feet.

Looks like their plan based on their video-analysis was working. Pester him on the outside while keeping a safe distance. Don't let him get close and don't let him use his feet.

It seemed like the boy had realized how futile it was trying to fight the entire AceOps as he suddenly started bolting to a window and jumped out.

"He's getting away!" Harriet shouted as Subject Beta slammed into another building.

"Don't lose pursuit!" Clover commanded, "And Keep your distance!"

Chasing after him the squad lept into the same building.

"No…not this one," Mori Jin muttered as they caught up to him.

" _Not this one?"_

What was he talking about?

That question was soon shrugged off as they continued their relentless assault as Elm now converted her weapon to its hammer form and started to attempt to strike their target with it.

Dodging her strikes with ease, Mori Jin continued to attempt to get away from the AceOps.

As he jumped out to the next building the AceOps continued their bombardment of him as he crashed into the next building.

"No, it's still not enough," Subject Beta muttered again.

" _What is he trying to do?"_

Mori Jin continued to search around as he looked around at other buildings.

"Is he trying to find an escape route?" Elm asked in confusion as they caught up to him.

"I kind of feel bad for him," Marrow commented, "He's clearly outmatched."

"Marrow focus," Clover rebuked.

Finding something the target jumped out again to the next building.

"Not this time buddy!" Clover shouted as he threw his fishing rod in an attempt to catch the boy.

Clover could feel his semblance work wonders for him as he was able to get a catch as the wire of his weapon wrapped around the boy.

Using all of his strength Clover then pulled the boy back.

Harriet then rushed at him again in going for a big punch.'

This time, however, Mori anticipated it and quickly sent a kick her way.

"Marrow!" Clover yelled seeing the danger his teammate was about to be in.

"Stop!" Marrow shouted as he used his semblance to restrict the student's movements.

In an instant Marrow's semblance caused the boy to stop his kick as Harriet delivered a quick punch to his jaw, blowing him into a wall.

The punch didn't seem to have much of an effect, as the boy got up still wrapped in Clover's fishing line.

"Stop," Marrow shouted again.

Once again Mori's movements were restricted as he desperately attempted to break free of Marrow's semblance.

"Captain…This guy is insane…I can barely hold on to him." Marrow cried as he continued to concentrate.

"Elm now!"

Elm then appeared to the boy's side as she set her feet and delivered one of her most powerful strikes into the side of the boy.

Clover could hear a crunch as his lieutenant sent the boy flying into another building with a loud bang.

The Team looked at Elm's work satisfied with their work.

It looks like they finally subdued the kid.

"Is he ok?" Marrow asked in concern as they made their way down to claim their prize.

"He should be fine Marrow," Harriet commented, "Remember the guy could take a hit."

"But he has no aura," Marrow said, "Not many Grimm could take a hit from a point-blank Elm strike."

"He should be fine," Elm commented with a pant, "Though, he's probably not going to be awake for a while."

Clover could only think in silence as they finally reached the building where Elm launched the Subject into.

They found him lodged pretty deep in a crater that Elm created.

" _What was his battle plan?"_ Clover thought to himself, _"It didn't feel like he was running away, instead it felt like he was searching for something in each of those buildings."_

The boy was an intelligent person that's something Clover knew for sure; he wasn't running away for no reason. Was he trying to run for back up?

What came next shocked him as a voice echoed out of the crater.

"Ow, I think my arm is broken."

"No Way!" Marrow commented as his jaw dropped.

All of the AceOps couldn't believe what they were seeing as the boy got up like it was nothing.

Just how durable was this kid? That Hammer strike was enough to destroy a Megoliath in one hit and this kid shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"This building is perfect," Subject Beta commented as he reached out towards his ear with his nonbroken arm.

Clover had to cover his eyes as a massive thud was heard as dust and debris went flying everywhere.

When he opened them up again, the crater that Elm had created had grown bigger.

"What was that?" Elm commented.

"I…I'm not sure," Vine stammered.

Harriet and Marrow were just speechless.

Clover's eyes narrowed as he found the source of the thud and went to it.

As he inspected the object he realized it was not what he was expecting.

It seemed to be a small pillar, how did that create such a huge thud?

Something about it seemed familiar.

Clover attempted to pick up, but it was to no avail.

" _What is this?"_ Clover thought to himself, " _This is incredibly heavy!"_

Was the Subject fighting them with this in his ear?

That didn't make sense, if he was carrying something this heavy, the buildings they were in should have collapsed.

…Wait... was he not only fighting them while carrying something this heavy but balancing it as well!?

"Marrow!" Clover yelled in a panic.

It was too late.

"I'm sorry about this," Mori muttered as he appeared next to the dog Faunus instantly, "But you are the most annoying."

In an instant Marrow was knocked out.

Clover couldn't believe the speed he just witnessed.

"Marrow!" Harriet yelled as she attempted to avenge her fallen comrade.

"Harriet No!" Clover yelled.

Once again, the girl tried her hit and run tactics, once again Mori blocked her strike with ease with his knee.

As she tried to make distance again, the gap between them was closed in an instant.

"Wha-"

Harriet's panic cry was interrupted as she was knocked out in an instant with multiple strikes.

Did he just outspeed Harriet without a semblance?

"I'm going to stop him," Elm cried,

"Wait, stick together!" Clover tried to command.

It was to no use as Elm let out a loud war cry as she brought her hammer down on the boy.

Effortlessly the boy blocked her full-powered blow with a kick.

In one smooth motion, he then disarmed the lieutenant and knocked her out with three kicks to her head.

"Vine, stick with me, and provide support."

They couldn't afford to be any more split up, clearly, the boy was going easy on them earlier.

"I'm sorry," The boy calmly muttered, "But I really need to get to my friends."

He then got into a stance.

Clover's instincts told him that this was going to be a big one.

"Vine, brace yourself!"

A white light blinded Clover's vision as Mori Jin unleashed another kick.

When the Huntsman reopened his eyes, he looked over and noticed that Vine appeared to be unconscious …and he was upside down?

…Wait... where was the building?

…WHERE WAS THE GROUND!?"

Looking around the Huntsman had realized that not only had he been launched into the air by a massive tornado but everyone else was sent flying as well.

He started to panic; What kind of attack was that?

They underestimated him and were now paying the price. The cost, his squad's lives were now in danger…what kind of monster were they fighting?

"Sorry!" A voice shouted out as Marrow was suddenly grabbed.

Clover looked on in shock, unsure of what just happened.

"I'm so sorry!" This time Harriet disappeared.

Words of apology filled the air as each of the AceOps was grabbed out of the air.

"I really didn't want to do this!"

Clover attempted to find the source of the apologies when all of a sudden he got grabbed and a couple of seconds later put on the ground.

He looked up to see who his savior was.

It was Mori Jin himself, panting in exhaustion.

Worrying about his squad, Clover immediately looked around trying to find them.

They were settled nicely in a group to the side.

Clover could only breathe a sigh of relief, they were alive…knocked out but alive.

"Now, I really need to get to my friends."

"Wait!" Clover cried out grimacing from his injury from their battle.

The boy then turned around; his attention being caught.

"Who, who are you?" Clover asked.

This kid was not normal, he had never fought anything like him before.

"…I'm just a random nobody…" he softly murmured.

He then went to grab the small pillar and put it back in his ear.

"…That doesn't want to lose anyone again."

And with that, he was off.

* * *

Mori quickly hopped from building to building as he made his way to Team RWBY's side.

Of course, they had to get into trouble; and surprise, surprise, it involved Blake.

He was seriously thinking of putting a collar on that girl to get her to stop getting into trouble…

" _Shit, was that racist? …Sorry Blake."_

What the hell did Team RWBY get involved in?

Ugh, he'd figure it out when he'd got there.

" _Downtown, downtown…wait where specifically is that?"_ Mori thought to himself. _"Dammit Ruby, give me something more specific than it's downtown."_

***Boom***

"Something tells me that's a good place to start looking," Mori muttered to himself as he made his way to the source of the explosion.

" _Seriously, it's ridiculous the amount of trouble those girls get into,"_ Mori complained to himself as he continued to jump from building to building, " _Trouble just seems to attract those girls as much as Jaune attracts accid-wait is that?"_

"Sun…Neptune?" Mori called out in confusion to what looked like the two huntsmen-in-training from Vacuo.

They were eating from that noodle cart that Sun dined and dashed from.

"Hey Mori, what's up?" Sun asked with his mouth full.

"I'm not paying for you this time."

"Don't worry man, Neptune's got it."

"Wait, what?" Neptune asked as he looked up from his meal.

"Don't worry about it buddy."

"What are you guys doing out late?" Mori asked curious about what they were doing.

"Well, we were helping Team RWBY with their investigation, I went to a White Fang rally with Blake, Torchwick showed up with a giant robot and me and Neptune got knocked close to this noodle cart."

"…What?"

Mori got what Sun was saying, but how did all of this happen in one night while he was destroying a base.

Of course, it involved Torchwick though, that man was becoming a real pain in Mori's side. He was like a bad itch that wouldn't go away.

Mori thought he captured Torchwick at the docks but apparently, that wasn't enough, and now Team RWBY was fighting the criminal again.

Wait…

"If Team RWBY is fighting Torchwick right now, why are you eating at a noodle cart?" Mori asked in an accusatory tone.

"Hey, we hadn't eaten dinner yet man," Sun defended himself, "We can't fight on an empty stomach."

That was the most…fair reason Mori had ever received.

It really was no good to fight on an empty stomach.

Speaking of which, he was actually kind of hungry.

"I'd like a small bowl, fast please!" Mori asked the owner.

The owner nodded and quickly delivered the meal to Mori.

"Now, you've been asking us all these questions but let me ask you one," Sun said breaking Mori from his quick meal, "What the hell, you have been up to man?" he asked in an incredulous voice.

"What do you mean?" Mori asked obliviously after he finished slurping his food.

"Dude, you look like a wreck and are missing your shirt," Neptune stated.

Mori looked down and realized in fact his shirt was gone.

" _Huh, when did that happen…did it get blown off from my recent fight?"_

"And what happened to your left arm?" Sun asked in concern, "It's all purple and stuff."

Mori took a look down at his arm.

"Oh, yeah…I broke it."

"You broke it," The two repeated.

"I Broke it," Mori repeated back.

"How'd you break your—" Sun started to ask

***Boom***

Right, Team RWBY was still dealing with Torchwick.

"I'll explain later…in the meantime, I'm borrowing this," Mori said as he stole a bike off the rack.

"Wait-!"

But it was too late as Mori started to bike with one arm to go help the girls.

"I'm not paying for his meal Sun," Neptune said in an annoyed tone as Mori got out of range.

Mori could hear the cars honk at him as he biked through the traffic.

Man, it was really hard to control a bike with one hand.

He will admit it right now, he underestimated his opponents.

Not the White Fang members, those guys were easy.

That group from Atlas had given him a tougher fight than he had anticipated.

He could tell that they were well trained from one quick look…but wow, their teamwork impressed Mori.

Their plan to neutralize him was really good…it was smart and well thought out. They didn't allow him to get in close and kept their distance. But at the same time pestered him with mid-range attacks.

That girl named Harriet really was quite fast, and unlike Ruby, she knew how to use her speed. Her varying of how fast she was going didn't allow Mori to gain a feel of the rhythm.

The other girl named Elm packed quite a punch and worked well with the pale man named Vine.

It was unexpected how she broke his arm.

The biggest problem was that Faunus Marrow though. He was nice, so Mori felt guilty knocking him out like that. But that semblance he had really caught Mori off guard.

It was really impressive that he was able to freeze Mori like that.

It's also why he had to be the first one Mori had to take out.

Then there was Clover, Mori didn't get a chance to really face him because he kept his distance but he could tell Clover was the strongest.

If he had more time, he'd probably enjoy fighting them more to help hone his skills. Maybe do a one on one against Clover to test his skills.

Sadly, he didn't have the time…ignoring the meal he just had.

If he fought normally, he probably would have been able to beat them eventually, but it'd take too long.

Sadly, he couldn't use his full strength in the White Fang base because he would have put those unconscious White Fang members in danger.

The second and third buildings he went into were also no good as there were still people in there.

Thankfully, his luck turned around for him as he got launched into an empty building and was able to end the fight quickly with a **True** **Roundhouse** **Kick.**

Though something did bug him. How the hell did that piece of string catch him as he was midair.

That Huntsman Clover must either have been really skilled or have ungodly luck to do that.

Yeah, that maneuver and his underestimation of that group cost him his left arm.

It'll probably heal up soon, though, he should probably get it set.

"GET OFF THE ROAD!"

Mori dodged another car as he continued biking towards the girls.

Turning the corner, he finally was able to reach Team RWBY.

…They were fighting a giant robot.

Like, he knew that Sun said they were fighting one…It just didn't quite register in his mind until now.

They seemed to be doing well though, as it looks like they were wrapping up their fight with Torchwick.

They really had improved their coordination as a team.

Ruby was able to command them with ease and they knew each other's fighting styles enough to cover for them.

They weren't as coordinated as that Atlas Team, but they really did work well together.

They could work on the collateral damage though. The highway was a mess and most of the buildings were heavily damaged … though going by his past fights that felt hypocritical to say.

Everything seemed to be going well though and the fight seemed to be wrapping up nicely.

"Oh No! Watch out!" Ruby screamed, breaking Mori's out of his thoughts.

Mori looked at Ruby was screaming about.

A huge chunk of one of the buildings they had damaged in their fight had broken off and started to fall to the ground.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem… where it was falling, however, was the source of panic. It was falling right where there were innocent bystanders trapped.

Ruby was running over there to rescue them, but it'd be to no avail, she wouldn't reach there in time and even if she did, there was not much she could do about stopping that huge stone block.

He could see the fear in her eyes as she watched the giant slab fall down.

Mori knew that it was her dream to be a hero that saved everyone.

Watching people die while being able to do nothing to save them would crush her.

There was nothing that she could do…however, that didn't mean that he couldn't do anything.

It was too late to rush over there and hold up the stone block and the **Blue Dragon Kick** and **True Roundhouse Kick** were off the table. Even though they could destroy the rock, it wouldn't be much help as the debris would still hit the bystanders.

No, he needed to absolutely obliterate it.

There was only one thing he knew that could do that.

Once again Mori got into a stance, remembering his Grandfather's last act.

The kick that was used to save his life… will now be used to save others.

Ruby had a fervent belief in Mori's ability to be a hero…now was the time to live up to that belief.

All the energy left that his broken body could muster would be used for one goal and one goal only…to save lives.

" _Hmm, Grandpa also wasn't able to use his left arm,"_ Mori noted in his mind as he copied Jin-Tae Jin's stance perfectly.

He would not fail this kick, he couldn't afford to, this was going to hit.

"Not...a drop... of wasted energy," Mori murmured as he unleashed the kick right as the stone slab was about to land.

***BAAAM***

Mori could feel the space around him bend as he unleashed it.

It had WORKED!

The giant slab had been completely disintegrated, nothing remaining of it. All that was left of Mori's attack were grateful bystanders and a split sky.

"Mori!" Ruby shrieked as she turned around seeing that the bystanders were all right.

"What was that!" Weiss shrieked.

"Disaster boy!" Yang cried out, "What did you do?"

Blake didn't say anything, but that's because her mouth was dropped.

"Nope, nope" Torchwick muttered, "I am not dealing with you."

He then flew off, running away from the battle.

Mori was about to go after him, but suddenly Team RWBY surrounded him without warning.

"When did you get here?"

"What happened to your shirt?

"What happened to his shirt? What happened to his arm?"

"Mori that was so cool! What was that"

Their voices were just a blur to him as he wasn't quite sure who was asking which question, all he could do was pant in exhaustion and think on what just happened.

He was one step closer to reaching his grandfather.

He finally did it, he was able to do the perfect kick that saved his life.

He had performed the **Recoilless Kick.**

* * *

"See ya later Dave, good luck with the birth!"

"Night Mori, stay out of trouble ok?"

"I can't guarantee that!"

A familiar scene had once again started to play in front of Blake's eyes.

The sight of the police station.

Blake couldn't help but note the irony of her situation, she had more visits to the police station in her short time of being clean than her entire stint as a member of the White Fang.

She had nothing on the number of times Mori's visited there though.

When they were escorted there to talk about their confrontation with Torchwick he was chummy with the whole department.

Usually, it wasn't good if a whole police department knew you by name, but somehow, he made it work.

It was like they were school friends, being greeted with stuff like, "What did you do this time?" and "Did you start another fight?"

"You know it's not good that you are that familiar with them?" Weiss asked in concern.

"It's fine," Mori replied as he dismissed her concern, "I haven't really done anything."

"Pfft hasn't done anything," Yang snicked to the side, "If you call completely obliterating a part of a building nothing then sure you did nothing."

"Mori that was so cool!" Ruby shouted with stars in her eyes as she crowded Mori.

"You still haven't explained what that was," Blake asked as she remembered his space defying attack.

"…If I told you it was a really good kick would you believe me?"

Blake internally raised an eyebrow, a really good kick?

Now Blake didn't usually do kicks, but she was pretty sure a really good kick made a nice sound and not split the sky.

"Kick's don't work like that," Weiss whimpered holding her head between hands.

Blake put a hand on her shoulder and comforted her.

Normally, she'd gloat that she was right, but she really could empathize with her teammate. Mori just didn't make any sense.

"I told you," Blake said in a know-it-all tone.

Ok, she had to get some gloating in.

Weiss shot her an evil look back. Her eyes then turned serious.

"Actually Blake," Weiss whispered in her ear, "I think I found something you may be interested in."

Blake internally raised her eyebrows at the heiress sudden change of attitude.

"Did you find something on the White Fang?"

"No, it has to do with him," Weiss murmured as she pointed to Mori who was surrounded by Ruby and Yang trying to copy his kick.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked as her curiosity rose.

Did she find something involving Mori's past?

"No…do you remember the story on how they found him?"

Blake nodded.

"When you have the chance, take a look at files related under Project Giantslayer," Weiss then connected her scroll to Blake's and sent the info.

Giantslayer? What could that possibly be?

"By the way Blake," Mori said as he turned towards her,

Blake jumped in panic as he grabbed her attention.

"Thanks for patching me up a sling."

He held up his left arm to show his patched-up arm.

"It's fine," Blake replied with a smile, "I have some practice with it."

"How did you break your arm anyway?" Weiss asked in concern.

"It's a long story."

"I'm sure it is Mr. Jin," A new voice popped in.

Everyone paled as they recognized the source…It was Professor Goodwitch.

She didn't look happy at all.

"I'm sure Professor Ozpin and I would love to hear your story on how your night went."

* * *

Ironwood marched down through the halls of Beacon.

He was not happy right now.

"Ozpin!"

He stormed into the Beacon Headmaster's office.

"James," He replied calmly, "How could I help you this evening?"

"What…Kind…of…Monster are You hiding here!?" Ironwood demanded as he slammed his fist on his desk.

"I believe Peter has some Boarbatusks locked away in the janitor's closet," Ozpin nonchalantly replied, "Other than that we do try to keep him from keeping anymore Grimm on Campus.

"That is not what I am talking about!" Ironwood angrily replied, "I'm referring to that beast you call a student.:

"James! I never took you for someone to call a Faunus derogatory names."

Ironwood could feel a blood vein start to pop.

He was avoiding the topic.

"Oz, you know who I am talking about and he is not a Faunus."

"Oh, pray tell, who are you talking about."

"Your special, 'substitute' student," Ironwood replied accenting the word substitute.

"Oh, Mr. Jin? I believe he is doing quite well in class even though he doesn't have a team, right Glynda?" Ozpin asked, turning towards his deputy.

Glynda just sighed as she put her head in her hand.

"Yes, quite well indeed," Ironwood replied mockingly, "Good enough to wreck my AceOps in fact."

"Wait, you sent the AceOps after him?" Glynda asked in confusion.

"What, did your student not tell you who he fought?" Ironwood turned and asked.

"He just told me he fought a team from Atlas."

"Yes, that 'Team' from Atlas consisted of some of the strongest Huntsmen Atlas offers." Ironwood said, "And he played with them like a children's toy set."

"Now, now James," Ozpin replied taking a sip of coffee, "Played with is a bit too strong of a word isn't it?"

"Those words came directly from Clover's mouth." Ironwood angrily shot back, "And he is not a man who exaggerates things."

"Well, looks like those of lessons of yours are paying off Glynda," Ozpin said as he turned to the Blonde Woman.

The woman in question just snorted in response.

"Ozpin this is not a joke, why do you have someone that dangerous on your campus?"

"James, tell me something," Ozpin said as a steely look appeared in his eye. "Would you rather have Specialist Winter Schnee or 1000 Atlesian's soldiers?"

The question threw Ironwood off for a second,

"Of course, I'd rather have Winter." He answered as he regained his composure.

"And why would you rather have Miss Schnee?"

"She's invaluable of course," Ironwood responded back, "People with her talent only come once in a generation."

"So, you would say that it was her undeniable strength then, correct?"

Ironwood nodded in response.

"If you were to ask me this same question, I would come up with the same answer," Ozpin calmly stated as he took another sip of his coffee. "In order to win this war, we need huntsmen of unbelievable talent, we can train as many people as we want, but in the end, we need the strongest people possible."

"Mr. Jin undoubtedly has that potential," Ozpin stated with no hesitation, "In fact, he reminds of me of one of the strongest people I have ever been privileged to know...we need his undeniable, once in a generation strength he possesses, if we are to defeat Salem."

"But Ozpin, how do you know he won't turn against you, or what if he already works for the Queen?" Ironwood argued back.

"Hmm, good question, Glynda," Ozpin said turning to his deputy once more, "You are with Mr. Jin on a constant daily basis, what do you think of James question?"

"Hmm," Glynda replied putting a finger to her cheek, "He is by far one of the worst students I have ever been privileged to teach, he is disrespectful, sleeps in class all the time, and does not take anything I say remotely seriously."

"Is this supposed to be a defense, Glynda?" Ironwood asked in an incredulous tone.

"However, despite all of his flaws as a student, there is one thing that sticks out to me that shines through all of his bad qualities," She continued ignoring his question, "He is incredibly loyal to those he loves, the way he cheers for his friends and the acts I've seen him do to help them shows me he loves his friends at Beacon very much, sometimes a little too much as his little stunt in the cafeteria a couple of days back showed, but I digress…he would never do anything to betray or hurt them." She said in finality.

Ironwood couldn't help but be speechless. He had never heard Glynda give anyone that level of praise before.

"Thank you, Glynda," Ozpin said nodding turning his attention back to Ironwood, "I believe that answers your question of whether I could trust Mr. Jin or not."

Ironwood couldn't really rebut what Ozpin was saying, all he could do was grit and nod.

"I don't trust him," He said in a steely voice, "However, for now, I will trust your judgment in him."

"That is all I ask," Ozpin replied as he got up and walked towards the window "I understand your concerns, and his power and potential scare me as well, however, I truly do believe that he will be a key piece in saving this world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed hte latest chapter would love to hear your thoughts  
> Beta'd  
> Woof28  
> Eliad91  
> Patrician Lurker


	15. Chapter 15: Dance Dance Disappointment

**Chapter 15: Dance Dance Disappointment**

* * *

"Boys, we need a battle plan,"

Ren looked up from his textbook at Sun's declaration.

It was currently the weekend and Nora and Pyrrha were with Team RWBY doing "girl's stuff" … whatever that was.

Ren thought he'd finally get some peace and quiet to do his homework …too bad that hope got interrupted when Sun and Neptune burst into the team's room wanting to do a boy's night.

After much convincing that they should do something else, they settled on just hanging out in their room.

Neptune was currently getting his butt whooped by Jaune in their fighting game while Mori was as per usual asleep on the couch.

"What?" Jaune asked pausing his video game.

"Hey, I was just about to win!"

"Neptune, no you weren't," Jaune snarked back.

"Mori, get up, we need to make a battle plan!" Sun yelled as he shook the spiky-brunette awake from the couch.

"Finally, I made a dent!" Mori yelled as he got up in excitement, "…Wait…what's going on?" he asked as he turned to the group in confusion.

"Jeez dude, what kind of dreams do you have?" Neptune asked surprised by the sudden outburst.

"We are making a battle plan," Sun declared, ignoring his partner.

"A battle plan?" Ren commented, "The Vytal Festival isn't for a while and we aren't even on the same team."

"No, not a battle plan for the Vytal Festival," Sun replied in annoyance "a battle plan for the dance!"

"Wait, are we fighting during the dance?" Mori asked in excitement.

"What? …No," Sun said in exasperation as Mori's excitement deflated, "We need to make a battle plan to make sure we aren't losers."

"Losers?" Jaune asked in confusion

"Losers," Sun repeated folding his arms.

"I'm not quite following you," Neptune commented.

Ren had to agree with Neptune that he had no idea what Sun was talking about.

"Dates!" Sun shouted, "I am talking about finding Dates."

"Ohhh," The four other boys commented as it finally hit them.

"Mmm-hmmm," Sun nodded as his point finally got across.

"So, who are you planning on asking Sun?"

"…Are you serious Jaune?" Sun asked flabbergasted.

"Blake, he's planning on asking Blake," Mori dead panned as he pointed out the obvious.

"Ohh right," Jaune commented, "…Wait is she even going on to the dance, last I heard she hadn't even bothered to get a dress."

"…Well, I hope she does," Sun commented, "She needs to relax and not worry so much."

"Well, good luck with that man," Jaune commented, "I on the other hand plan on asking the prettiest girl in Beacon."

Ren internally rolled his eyes; he was going to get shot down again…well, at least his leader was persistent.

"You know you're just going to get shot down again…right?" Mori commented as he vocalized Ren's thoughts.

"Ok, ok, I know my previous attempts have failed," Jaune defended himself, "But this one is going to work…just imagine me, a guitar, serenading Weiss to go to the dance with me."

Blank stares were all that Jaune got from the boys.

"…Do what you want," Mori commented in an exasperation.

"Hopefully, she says yes," Jaune continued, "If not I'm probably just going to have to go to the dance alone."

At that, Ren once again just gave Jaune a flat stare. He then looked over at Mori who was giving that exact same look.

Their eyes met and a feeling of understanding passed between them.

" _Has he not realized yet?"_ Mori mouthed wordlessly.

Ren shook his head as a response.

" _How?"_

Ren could only shrug his shoulders.

Jaune was a bright kid who was a great leader, but his ability to understand girls was severely lacking.

" _Do you want to bring it up or should I?"_ Mori once again mouthed.

" _I'll do it this time."_ Ren mouthed back.

"Jaune," Ren spoke up getting the attention of his leader, "What about Pyrrha? I don't believe she has any plans for the dance."

"Wait Really?" Jaune asked in confusion, "I'd imagine she'd be one of the first girls to be asked, I'm sure she could get any guy to ask her to the dance."

"Yeah, any guy but one," Mori muttered in the background.

Ren gave a sharp look at Mori to not say anything else.

"I'm not sure about that Jaune," Ren said as he continued to nudge his leader along, "I think she's waiting for the right person to ask her out."

"Really, who? I haven't really noticed anyone she has been particularly interested in"

***Thud***

The other inhabitants of the room looked over to the source of the loud noise.

It was Mori who just broke the wall slamming his head into it.

"…Sorry, I'll get that fixed." He apologized sheepishly.

"You ok dude?" Neptune asked in concern. "You hit your head really hard."

"I'm fine," Mori responded, "There's really not much that can hurt me."

"Yeah and even if something did, he heals it up like it's nothing, like his arm," Sun chipped in.

"Oh yeah," Neptune said with a tone that just realized something, "How is your left arm holding up?"

Mori raised his healed arm and performed a couple of moves with it.

"Good as new," he commented giving a thumbs up with it.

"It's only been a couple of days, how has your arm already fully healed without Aura?" Neptune asked bewildered by the brunette's healing factor.

Mori only shrugged in response.

Neptune hadn't quite gotten to use to their friend's weirdness. To be fair, it took a while for everyone else in their friend group, but it eventually got so normal that whenever Hashtag Mori things happened it no longer came as a surprise.

Nora was the one who came up with that catchphrase.

"Did you ever get an apology from the guys who broke your arm?" Jaune asked in concern.

"Yeah, apparently they all got in trouble and suspended," Mori commented, "I was called up to the office and Professor Ozpin explained what happened that caused our fight. Personally, I didn't mind as much, it was fun fighting them."

Ren could only shake his head in exasperation, only Mori would consider getting his arm broken "fun."

"I hope I can meet them again and get another fight with them," He continued with a glint in his eyes, "Maybe they'll be at the Vytal Festival."

"Hopefully not," Jaune commented, "I don't want to face guys that have the ability to break your arm."

That was another thing that Ren was questioning about, what kind of students did Atlas have that could break their friend's arm?

"Guys focus," Sun cut in, "We can talk about Mori's stupid abilities later, we need to focus on not being losers."

"Well, I'm going to just let the ladies flock to me," Neptune commented with a suave smile.

Ren really didn't care for this conversation, he already had plans to go with Nora.

"I'm probably just going by myself," Mori commented in a neutral tone, "If I get asked to go with someone sure, but I probably won't."

At this, Ren internally raised his eyebrows and looked at his friend in disbelief.

He couldn't be that oblivious…right?

"Mori the hell you talkin' about," Sun commented in disbelief.

"What do you mean?"

"Dude, the girls flock all over you." Sun pointed out.

"They do?" Jaune and Mori commented simultaneously.

"Duh yes they do," Sun continued, "Like that all-girl Team from Vacuo who gave you their scroll numbers?"

"They just said they wanted to connect in case there was anywhere in Vale I wanted to show them, which doesn't make sense because I don't even know Vale that well."

"Uggh," Sun replied putting his head in his hand.

"Dude, why" Neptune also complained.

Ren could only nod in agreement, he loved his friends…but they were idiots when it came to girls.

"Dude, you are like one of the most popular guys in Beacon," Sun pointed out.

"Really?"

"Yeah, there are even rumors that you are dating all of Team RWBY,"

"WHAT!" Mori and Jaune both shouted.

"Have people not seen how Weiss treats me!?"

"And Blake doesn't really show any interest in anyone." Jaune pointed out.

"Hey, she's shown interest in me a little bit," Sun protested, "…I hope."

"Yeah, it's apparently a thing," Neptune pointed out ignoring Sun, "It's probably because you spend so much time around them."

"That's stupid," Mori snorted with a disgusted look, "Team RWBY can barely share a shower, what makes people think they can share a boy?"

Jaune nodded in agreement.

"So, are you going to take one of them out?" Sun asked, "Just please don't tell me you're going to ask Blake,"

"Blake at times is scared of me, I doubt she'd say yes."

"Or Weiss," Jaune chipped in.

"…Really, Jaune?"

"Maybe you will go with Yang?" Neptune commented, "You seem close with her."

"I'm close with Yang but not that close," Mori pointed out, "She mostly helps me with my homework, applying concepts to different things and removing stuff I don't really need."

Ren couldn't help but notice that there was one name that was missing in the guy's guesses on who would be good match to go with Mori.

Ruby had not been mentioned at all.

To Ren it was the easiest one, they already were extremely close, and it was easy to see how protective he was of Ruby.

They got along incredibly well, though, Mori didn't seem to want to bring her up.

"What about Ruby?" Jaune asked obliviously.

" _Dammit Jaune,"_ Ren thought to himself as his head hit his textbook.

"Dude, you ok?" Neptune asked Ren in concern.

"What about Ruby?" Mori asked back a little warily.

"You are really great friends with her so why don't you just take her?"

"…Like I said, I'll probably go on my own, if someone asks me, I'll say yes, but I doubt someone will."

"Dude, don't be a loser and go to the dance dateless," Sun commented.

"It's fine I don't even like dances that…" His scroll suddenly interrupted him, "Wait a second I got to take this."

He then left the room to answer his scroll.

Ren narrowed his eyes again, who was calling Mori at this hour, and for what?

* * *

"How do you think this color looks on me?" Weiss asked as she showed off a different dress.

"You look wonderful," Pyrrha responded back with a strained smile.

"Weiss, we have been looking at you try on dresses for an hour can we pleeease do something else?" Ruby whined at her partner.

Pyrrha had to internally agree with the fellow redhead. On the inside she was dying, Weiss had been trying on different dresses for Beacon Dance and she just couldn't find the right one.

"Hmm," The heiress thought about it, as she looked in the mirror, "…I think there's one more that'll be a better fit."

"UGGGH," All the other girls in the room groaned.

"Weiss Cream, just choose a dress so we can move on with planning for the Beacon Dance," Yang complained.

"I'll have you know that I can't just choose a dress," Weiss barked back, "It is important that we keep a proper appearance for an event as in important as this, it's also why it's better we should have Dollies at the dance."

"Dollies are so lame," Yang complained, "We need to go for a modern look."

"Fog machines are way too crass!"

Oh boy, they were getting into another argument about decorations again.

Can they please make some progress in planning?

"No they aren't, they are perfectly fine," Yang argued back, "And can we PLEASE start planning for the rest of the dance you've spent an hour looking for a dress…WHY do you need to find the perfect dress?"

"…it's cause I want to look as cute as possible ok," Weiss admitted as she sheepishly looked at the ground.

"Ah hah, I guess Ice Queen wants to impress her very own Ice King," Yang teased.

"I told you to stop calling me that," Weiss said as she gave a glare, "And No I don't"

Pyrrha knew that was a lie, ever since she met that guy Neptune, she had been infatuated by him.

Frankly, Pyrrha didn't know what Weiss saw in him…but hey, that was less competition for her.

Who was she kidding, Jaune would still go after Weiss.

"Speaking of impressing," Nora spoke up as she swung down from the bed she was hanging out on, "Who are you guys planning on going with to the dance" Me personally, I'm going with Renny,"

"This bird is flying solo," Yang confidently said, "I don't need anyone to hold me down."

"…I probably won't go," Blake said as she looked up from the book she was reading, "I'm too busy with researching."

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at this…right now, Blake was not the picture of the health. Her eyes were baggy, and her skin was pale. She needed a break from whatever she was researching.

Pyrrha noticed Yang also seemed to have that same look of concern.

"You know, Blake…I think some of the boys are looking for a date," She said in concern.

"Well I'm going with Ren," Nora declared with a smile, "We ALWAYS do stuff together."

Nora going with Ren was to no surprise to anyone within their two teams, anyone could see how close they were.

"What about Jaune?" Ruby asked innocently, "I think Jaune is looking for a date"

"…Seriously?" Blake deadpanned.

"No, I have an idea of who he is going to ask," Weiss sarcastically deadpanned.

Weiss was right, apparently, he had planned to serenade the heiress with music…Pyrrha knew because he already planned it out with her.

Pyrrha liked Jaune for a lot of things, his humility, his heart, his kindness…his brain on the hand…

Well no, that was wrong, he was good at strategy, it was just…other things that made Pyrrha want to bash her head on the wall sometimes.

She admired her partner's perseverance…but she wished he had it directed elsewhere…more specifically her.

"I don't know what you see in Neptune over Jaune, to be honest," Yang chipped in, "They both use the same cheesy lines, and to be honest, to me, they are both the same in the looks department."

Pyrrha nodded along internally with Yang's assessment. Jaune was a great guy! Weiss was lucky to have someone like him go after her.

"It's because Neptune is more of an intellectual fit," Weiss defended herself, "He doesn't waste his time playing video games and reading comic books."

"Actually, most of his time nowadays has been spent on training and studying, he only really plays video games in his free time," Pyrrha spoke up defending her partner.

"And besides is Neptune even actually smarter than Jaune?" Ruby asked as she swung her feet from her bed.

"What do you mean by that?" Weiss asked narrowing her eyes.

"Like Neptune says all this smart stuff, but most of the stuff he says is pretty useless for a huntsman, Jaune on the other hand is a great strategist who uses his head a lot in a fight," Ruby said explaining her reasoning, "He usually has an idea of the best path and the best way to fight someone, it's just his body isn't conditioned to react to those general thoughts.

"…What?" the heiress responded in confusion.

"She's saying Vomit Boy knows what to do, he just can't, because of his lack of experience," Yang explained for her sister, "Right Ruby?"

"Yup," the girl cheerfully replied.

"Our Fearless Leader is awesome!" Nora bragged with a smile, "Team exercises are soooo easy when he takes charge."

At that, Pyrrha nodded along in agreement.

"I'm surprised you recognized that," Pyrrha said to the other team leader.

"Well to be fair I didn't really notice until Mori pointed it out," Ruby sheepishly replied, "But once he did, I could see what he was talking about, I've even gone to Jaune a couple of times for pointers."

Ahh, that made sense, Mori was really the only one outside of Pyrrha that initially noticed Jaune's potential.

Pyrrha was thankful for him, whenever she couldn't encourage Jaune, he seemed to know what to do…she just wished he stopped his habit of getting them both into jail.

"But yeah," Ruby continued, "Jaune is a lot smarter than people give him credit for, if you won't go with him, maybe Pyrrha should." She said innocently.

Suddenly all the eyes in the room focused on Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha you do need a date to the dance, right?" Yang asked with a sly smile on her face.

"I mean, they are _already_ partners," Nora continued as that same smile appeared on her face as well.

Pyrrha could feel a slight blush appear on her face… dammit Ruby, why did she have to drag her into this.

She needed to find a way out…what could she do about it…

"Maybe," Pyrrha said with a smile, "What about you Ruby, what are you planning on doing for the dance?"

"Wha-what do you mean?" Ruby stammered,

Sorry, Ruby, her only option was throwing her fellow redhead under the bus.

"Yeah," Weiss said narrowing her eyes, "What are you planning to do for the dance,"

"I don't think she's even picked out a dress yet…" Yang murmured as she turned towards her sister.

"Well, I…I'm thinking of just staying in the room and read comic books," Ruby sheepishly admitted twiddling her fingers.

"You dolt, the Beacon Dance is one of the most important events of the year, you can't just skip it to read comic books!" Weiss angrily shouted.

"Bu-but Blake is skipping as well, why can't I?" Ruby complained.

"Don't bring me into this," Blake spoke, looking up from her research.

"And we will solve that problem later," Yang muttered, "But our focus right now is on you." She said turning to her sister.

"We need to find you a dress and some heels," Weiss declared.

"No, please no, anything but the lady stilts," Ruby cried.

Pyrrha couldn't help but feel guilty now for making Ruby the target of everyone's attention…but it was the only way.

"Don't worry Ruby," Pyrrha said as she put a reassuring hand on Ruby's shoulder, "Heels aren't that bad."

"Yes, they are!" Ruby complained, "And besides even if I go, I'll probably just hang out near the punch bowl with Mori."

"Actually, you may not be able to do that," Blake said as she looked up again.

"What hang out near the punch bowl?" Ruby said in confusion.

"No, hang out with Mori," Blake explained, "Ruby…you do know that Mori is actually one of the more popular guys in Beacon right now…right?"

"Wha-what what are you talkin' about?"

"He is good looking, smart and strong," Blake explained, "The only other guys our year that really fit that profile are Ren and surprisingly Cardin... but well Cardin is…Cardin."

"And Ren's not currently looking to date anyone," Nora chipped in with a glare in her eyes.

"She has a point Rubes," Yang spoke after thinking about it "Whenever Mori is training in the courtyard, the girls usually flock over to see him and I've seen this all-girl team from Vacuo try to chat him up a couple of times."

"That doesn't make sense, people didn't even talk to him at the beginning of the semester," Ruby complained.

"Yeah then he one-shot Cardin," Blake replied back, "And then the guy after that and the guy after that."

Pyrrha nodded along, she always had a feeling Mori was a lot stronger than he showed during their first semester and his fights during the second one only proved that he was a top-class fighter.

"Well just because he started to win a lot of fights doesn't mean he'd suddenly get popular," Ruby said in a panicked voice.

"No, but it does get people to notice him more and notice his other traits," Weiss spoke up, "I complain about him all time but he is well built for even a huntsman, and also despite my…reservations about his intellect, his grades are surprisingly high…for a buffoon" She quickly added on.

"Yeah he even outscored you in our last Grimm Studies test Weiss," Nora chipped in.

"I…I demand a re-grade," Weiss cried while putting her head on the desk, "How did I lose to a guy who sleeps in class all day."

"But yeah handsome, smart, and strong is a rare combination at Beacon," Blake continued her point ignoring Weiss.

"Jaune's also pretty handsome and smart," Pyrrha pointed out defending her partner's honor once again.

"But he's not strong," Yang pointed out, "Yet anyways, he may be a future catch, maybe I should get my hands in that cookie jar, ehh Pyrrha," She then gave a sly smile again nudging her in her side.

Oh, shoot, the attention was back on her again., she needed to quickly throw them off her.

"But yes, Ruby, your plan to just hang out with Mori may not work out," Pyrrha said as she threw the redhead under the bus again.

"Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if someone's already asked him out," Yang added as her attention went back to her sister.

Ruby suddenly paled.

"I uhh, I got to go check out how my cookies are doing!" Ruby said as she ran out of the room.

Silence filled the room as the youngest girl left.

"Why do you do that?" Blake said as she turned to her partner.

"Ehh, she needs to get more assertive, and look, now she's not focusing on just reading comic books during the dance," Yang explained, "Now we just need to focus on one more person for the dance,"

Suddenly all the eyes in the room went back on to Pyrrha. Shoot, what could she do? Ruby wasn't here to throw under the bus for a third time.

"So, I've been thinking about it and I think Weiss's dollies idea is wonderful."

"See! I told you!"

* * *

Ruby ran down the hallways to quickly reach the boy's room.

It wasn't because she wanted to ask Mori out, no she just wanted to make sure she wasn't going to be alone at the punch bowl.

If she was going to be forced to the dance, she'd wanted to make sure that she at least had a buddy to hang out with.

Knocking on the Team JNPR room a familiar blond face greeted her.

"Ruby?"

"Hey, Jaune" Ruby replied back, "How are you guys?"

"Doing pretty good just finished wiping the floor with Neptune and Sun,"

"I demand a rematch!" A voice from the back of the room yelled.

"You cheated there's no way you could have beaten us both that fast." Another voice added on.

"The results are still going to be the same and it's not cheating it's skill!" Jaune yelled back, "What's up Rubes?"

"Ohh, nothing much," Ruby replied, "We are just still planning out the decorations for the dance."

"You've spent the last three hours on planning decorations?"

"Welllll…Let's just say there's been…creative differences."

"Creative differences?" Jaune repeated with a confused look.

"Creative differences," Ruby reaffirmed nodding with a smile.

"…Oook, what brings you here?" Jaune asked moving on from the topic.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to talk to Mori for a little bit."

"For, what?" Jaune asked.

Ruby panicked, why did she want to talk to Mori again, she wasn't asking him out, no she just wanted to make sure she wasn't alone at the punch bowl…but wait telling Jaune she doesn't want to be alone at the punch bowl would make her look so lame, what could she tell Jaune? …She needed help with homework? …Yang was going on a pun rampage? …Blake ran off again?

"If you are looking for Mori, he's not in the room right now," Ren suddenly chipped in, interrupting Ruby's thoughts on what she could use as an excuse.

"Do you know where he is?" Ruby asked.

"Hold on let me text him," Jaune replied taking out of his scroll.

A couple of seconds of awkward silence filled the hallways as they waited for a reply back after he sent his message.

"Soo, what do you need to talk to him about again?" Jaune asked, repeating his earlier question.

Once again Ruby's mind went into a panic on what she should say.

"Hey Jaune, can you help me with this problem?" Ren suddenly asked, again bailing Ruby from answering his question.

"uhh, sure," Jaune answered, heading off to Ren, "Ren why do you need my help for this? You've already got it."

"Oh, you're right," Ren replied with a blank tone, "I guess I didn't need your help."

Right as Jaune was making his way back to the doorway his scroll suddenly rang.

"That was Mori, he's right now near the library," Jaune said after checking his scroll.

"Thank you Jaune," and with that, Ruby was off to the library.

"I still don't know why she wanted to talk to Mori," Jaune said as Ruby was leaving.

"Don't worry about it Jaune," Ren replied.

Ruby now began to make her way to the library.

Again, this was to make sure she wouldn't be alone at the punch bowl.

She didn't want to ask Mori out; this was clearly her trying to make sure she had at least one friend she can suffer with.

Besides if Mori was going to go out with anyone it should be with someone who was actually his friend.

Someone who can appreciate Mori outside of him being ridiculously strong.

Like yeah, Ruby was happy that Mori was being recognized for how awesome he was. But it still bugged her that people only saw him for his fighting strength.

They whisper about his natural talent and how completely unfair his abilities are, but don't see the countless hours of work he put in his martial arts.

They whisper in awe in his ability to dominate his opponents in a fight but don't see him afterward go up to them, congratulate them on the fight, and offer tips to get better.

They talk about how easy it must be for him but don't see the burden he puts on himself to get stronger.

All they see in him was just someone who kicked a lot of butt and was good at it.

Mori was so much more than that.

That moment when he saved those people with the recoilless kick had been all Ruby had filled Ruby's dream's these past few days.

It was such an amazing kick… his usual kicks were pretty cool but this one was just on a different level compared to them, and the way he just stood there with a determined face after he saved all those people's lives was the coolest thing she had ever seen.

Once again visions of a woman in white overlapped with him.

Mori really was an amazing hero; it was like he was straight from the fairy tales Yang read to her as a child.

Someone who won the fight no matter what and saved everyone.

Ruby hoped she'd reach that level of being an awesome hero.

If Mori was going to date anyone it shouldn't be someone who only liked him for his physical strength, no, it should be a friend who appreciated him for his strong heart and his kind personality.

Someone he was close to, like, like Yang! He was close to Yang and they always studied together; they would get along great…except Yang said she wanted to go by herself. Or he could go with Blake she was always paying attention to Mori and she needed to go to the dance to relax… but Sun was also interested in her though,… or Weiss!... actually no, that ship was pretty much sunk.

Yeah! That's why she was going to Mori right now, she wanted to make sure that he would find the right girl to go with the dance with, and if none of her teammates wanted to go with him than Ruby would hang out near the punch bowl with him, even though her feet were going to be in pain from the lady stilts.

Rounding the corner to the library in her carelessness, she ran into a brick wall.

"Oooh," Ruby commented as she could feel her aura drain from that hit.

What kind of brick wall did she run into.

"Ruby?"

Oh, it wasn't a brick wall she hit it was Mori…no wonder she felt worse.

"Hi, Mori why are there three of you…are you performing a triple kick?" Ruby responded as she looked up, her vision in a complete daze.

"No, you are just dizzy," Mori laughed as he helped her up, "How's the planning been so far?" He asked once Ruby got a hold of her bearings.

"Ehh," Ruby responded.

"That bad huh?" Mori chuckled.

"Let's just say there's a civil war going on right now between Fog machines and dollies."

"Fog machines and dollies?"

"You don't want to know," Ruby responded with a flat tone, "Then Weiss spent an hour trying to choose a dress."

"An hour?"

"An hour," Ruby repeated, "And she still hasn't found the 'right' dress"

"How many dresses can she have?" Mori asked incredulously, "Actually don't answer that, I'm pretty sure I have a section of my room labeled dress plateau."

Ruby giggled at the joke.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you had our stuff."

"Speaking of which Ruby, Mt. Cookies, starting to get awfully stale," Mori deadpanned.

"Oh no!" Ruby shouted her eyes widening, "I need to save the cookies!"

"Don't worry I wrapped some up and put them in the fridge,"

"Oh whew," Ruby replied her panic stopping.

"So, what did you need?" Mori asked.

"Huh?"

"Jaune texted me and said you were wanting to talk to me."

What was she needing to talk with Mori again? Oh yeah, punch bowl.

"Well I just wanted to talk to you about the Beacon dance,"

Mori raised his eyes waiting for Ruby to continue.

"I'm being forced by Yang and Weiss to go and I really don't want to, but they are saying it's important that I go."

"You could just do what you want and not go?"

"I wish but they'd kill me if I don't."

"So, do you want my help to get out of it?"

"Well…not exactly," Ruby responded as she looked up starting to feel embarrassed.

She was not asking him out to the dance. She was not. She was just making sure that she won't be lonely at the punch bowl…that and she was making sure that Mori was not going to be taken by someone who didn't care for him, she was not asking him out.

"I was just wondering if wecouldhangoutnearthepunchbowlduringthedance." Ruby said as she quickly spat out her request.

She could feel her face start to heat up and her heart start to rise as she said it. Would he accept being her punch bowl buddy?

"I'm not asking to be your date," she stammered out, "I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't be by myself standing on the edge."

A couple of seconds passed before Mori gave his answer.

"…Sorry Ruby…," He said sheepishly rubbing his head, "…I've already made plans with someone…"

" _Oh no, I really am going to the punch bowl alone,"_ Ruby thought to herself as her heart dropped to her stomach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the latest chapter next week's update may be in the air due to mid-terms. Love to hear your guys thoughts  
> Beta's  
> Woof28  
> Eliad91  
> Patrician Lurker


	16. Chapter 16: Team CYSM

"Hey freshie, are you listening?"

Mori looked up from his notebook as a voice attempted to get his attention.

"Coco, you don't need to be so hard on him I'm sure he's listening, he's probably just nervous," another voice popped up before Mori could answer.

"Look Vel, I don't want him risking our lives just because he's feeling nervous," Coco replied back with an annoyed voice.

"Your constant ragging on him isn't going to be helpful," Velvet pointed out.

"I'm fine, I understand the details of the mission," Mori replied before Coco could answer back.

"That's good," A gruff voice answered back, "Just remember, it's important to be able to keep calm in all situations."

"Thanks for the advice Yatsuhashi," Mori said as he nodded his head in gratitude.

"You're welcome,"

"Now, Now!" An elderly voice shouted out, "No need for nerves, in fact on my first mission…"

Mori immediately tuned out the latest voice as the familiar sound of Professor Port talking about his youth filled the Bullhead they were in.

Mori respected the man for the experience he held and his knowledge on the Grimm was vast and incredibly useful for Mori's ability to understand how to fight them…the problem was getting through that man's stories to get the information he needed.

Thankfully this one didn't seem to involve Grimm so he didn't pay attention and his mind went back to the night that was the reason he was on a bullhead with a Professor who love the sound of his own voice, a timid rabbit Faunus, a silent giant, and a fashionista with an attitude.

**Couple Days Back.**

"Professor Ozpin?" Mori asked as he knocked and opened the door to the Headmaster's Office.

"Ahh, Mr. Jin, good of you to finally arrive," The headmaster said as Mori poked his head through. "Please, take a seat."

Mori made his way into the room as he followed Ozpin's instructions.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" The headmaster asked as Mori sat down.

Mori nodded no; he wasn't a fan of the stuff, it was too bitter.

"I see," Ozpin murmured with a smile, "Well I hope you don't mind as I pour a cup for myself then," The headmaster then grabbed a kettle and started to pour a cup for himself.

As Ozpin poured his cup, all Mori could think of was what could the Headmaster want with him.

They already cleared up the incident with that Atlas team, and he hadn't done anything else…yet anyways.

Mori's opinion on Ozpin really had not changed much from the beginning of the year, he still did not trust him. He was a man with many secrets and unless Mori knew everything about him he'd keep him at arm's length, that and the way he basically strongarmed Mori into attending Beacon still left a sour taste in his mouth.

Other than that though, his interactions with the headmaster had been mostly pleasant. He actually somewhat paid attention during Ozpin's Fairy Tales and Stories class and the man was a good teacher.

Their relationship, for the most part, had been amicable and whenever they crossed each other in the hallways Ozpin would always ask Mori how his day had been in a familiar tone.

It really was such a shame he could trust him as far as Jaune could throw him.

"Now you must be wondering why I called you so late," The professor asked as he finished brewing his cup of coffee and sat down behind his desk.

Mori nodded as he waited for Ozpin to explain.

"Do you remember initiation and the reason why you were able to be here without a team?"

" _You mean_ _when you basically came up with bullshit to get me into your school?"_ Mori thought to himself.

"I think so," Mori said as he went with the less controversial route.

"Do you remember the reasoning for it?" Ozpin asked.

Frankly, Mori really didn't remember, he had been too angry about the circumstances to really pay attention.

"As Huntsman being able to work as a team is a necessary skill," Ozpin started to explain "Teamwork is highly important as a huntsman and four is the number considered most optimal to send on missions."

Mori nodded along, he agreed with what the professor was saying. Teamwork was important, even though he never really need to use it in his life, and four was a good number for a team, it was big enough to split up when needed while at the same time being small enough to move quickly and efficiently.

"However, sometimes our teams are unable to have full membership due to various circumstances," Ozpin continued, "You're a smart young man Mr. Jin, I'm sure you understand where I am going with this."

Ahh, Mori could see where the professor was going…and he was surprised, he always thought his position as a substitute at Beacon was just something made Ozpin made up to keep him here, he never thought he would actually be do something with it.

"I think I understand sir."

"Good, Glynda you can come in now."

Mori looked towards the door as Glynda and a brunette wearing a beret and dark shades entered the room.

"Glynda," Mori nodded as he acknowledged the Deputy Headmistress."

"Again Mr. Jin, it is Professor Goodwitch to you," The blonde woman sighed in annoyance.

"So, this is the rising hotshot eh," The brunette spoke up as she looked Mori over pulling down her shades, "Doesn't seem like much, kind of looks a bit dumb."

…Really, why did people always say he looked dumb, he didn't look that dumb…right?

"I wouldn't judge on appearance Miss Adel," Ozpin said trying to stifle a smirk, "Mr. Jin is one of the most talented first years Beacon has had in quite a while."

"If you say so Professor," The girl responded flippantly.

"Mr. Jin, this is Miss Coco Adel the team leader of Team CFVY, a second-year team at Beacon," Professor Ozpin explained as he introduced the now named Coco to Mori.

Mori raised his eye and looked at the headmaster…Coffee…really?

"Mr. Jin, an opportunity to name a team that rarely comes in one's lifetime; do you really think I would waste that?"

Mori looked at Glynda, she in turn just shook her head in annoyance.

"Miss Adel and Team CFVY are going to be going on a mission to the outskirts of Vale this week, however, due to…unforeseen circumstances one of their Team Members has fallen in ill and it has been determined that he would not be healthy enough to go on their mission this week."

"I don't know why they went to the Little Shade," Coco muttered, "Everyone knows you get food sick from there."

"Due to these unfortunate events, Team CFVY is unable to have their full team and we have been in a bit of rush to fill that need." Ozpin continued, "I would like to ask you if you would accompany them on their mission."

"I don't know why a first year is what we decided to go with," Coco murmured.

"I understand that the Beacon Dance is coming up and due to the timeline if you accept you will probably miss it" The professor again spoke up, ignoring Coco, "But, because you are young and an opportunity like this doesn't come often, you don't have to accept going on this mission, if that's the case we will just get another second year and just pull them to join."

Mori thought about it for a bit before making his decision.

He didn't have to accept it, he didn't trust Ozpin still, and by the sound of it he didn't have to really go, hell, that girl Coco didn't even want him anyways and even though he had no interest in the dance itself, spending that time with his friends did seem like a lot of fun…but this was valuable experience he can gain and he needed to regain his strength as fast possible so he could protect his friends, the choice was easy for him.

"Well, this is the reason why I am here Professor Ozpin," Mori said as he accepted the assignment.

"Perfect from this moment you will be known as Team CYMS(Crimson)," Professor Ozpin smiled as he took a sip from his coffee. "You will depart in a couple of days."

Team CYMS…Really?

Well, at least it wasn't CFVY.

Mori got up and made his way out, making plans to prepare for the mission.

"Now hold up," Coco said as she stopped Mori outside of Ozpin's office, "You may be some hotshot freshie, but if you are going to roll with us I can't be seen with someone wearing that travesty you call an outfit."

Mori took a look down, at his clothes, they seemed pretty normal. Just a white shirt and blue jeans.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" he asked with a dumbfounded look.

"…Oh my God, it's so much worse than I thought."

**Present**

The day after had Coco force Mori to wear something more fashionable, she was finally pacified with a red striped button-up shirt over his white one.

He still didn't know what was wrong with his usual clothes.

"…And That's how my first mission ended up me slaying an Alpha Beowolf."

Oh, looks like Professor Port was done rambling.

"This could not go any worse," Coco said as she held her head in her hands. "We get Professor Port, and we have to carry a freshman with no weapon."

"It's not that bad Coco," Velvet said as she tried to comfort her leader. "I've seen Mori fight a couple of times and he's pretty strong."

Ohh right, for some reason, Velvet attended a lot of the first-year courses, she was also bullied by CRDL a lot at the beginning of the year…Mori was confused why she allowed that to happen when she was so much stronger than them.

"Just because he can fight well doesn't mean he will helpful," Coco barked back as she looked up, "Why did you guys go to the Little Shade you know that place is famous for getting people sick," She then turned her anger to Yatsuhashi.

"Well to quote Fox, 'It had the authentic Vacuo experience of risking your life,'" Yatsuhashi explained in a neutral tone.

"You guys are idiots," Coco said as she put her head in her hands again.

Little Shade…where did he hear that name from before…oh right it was when Taiyang needed him to substitute teach.

Mori obviously hadn't eaten from the Little Shade yet and this was the second time he's heard of it…apparently, it was super good, it just had a nasty reputation health-wise… actually now that Mori thought about it, Dave mentioned it a couple of times. Mori's morbid curiosity wanted to see what the deal with that place was because based on it's reputation it really should be shut down.

"Now Miss Adel," Professor Port spoke up interrupting Mori's thoughts.

Mori again raised his eyebrows, was Professor Port going to go on another story rant again?

"We are arriving at our destination soon so start to prepare," His tone then turned serious.

Mori was surprised it seemed like a light seemed to switch on the man as he went from a bumbling professor to a serious well-trained huntsman.

The rest of Team CYMS nodded as they started to prep their weapons.

Since he didn't have a weapon, all Mori did was put away his journal he was working on, close his eyes and started to mentally go over his forms.

He needed to get stronger from this experience, after all, the cost of him going was time with his friends and having fun with them at the Beacon Dance.

He didn't know why…but he could still remember Ruby's sad face when he explained why he wasn't going.

" _This better be worth it… let's see how much I can learn from this."_

* * *

Velvet was not sure what she was expecting when her team got an emergency call to assist the village of Lower Cairn, she was somewhat nervous being out on the field with Grimm and was also somewhat excited to actually do Huntsmen related work.

She was not prepared for what she witnessed after getting off the bullhead.

…They were too late.

The small village…or what remained of it was completely destroyed.

"This is..." Yatsuhashi tried to speak but he couldn't seem to find the words to describe how he felt.

Velvet could only agree with her partner; the sight was too terrible to describe with words as the ground was littered with debris, the roads being completely destroyed and the most horrifying sight…the half-eaten remains of bodies, each face etched with terror at what could only be their horrifying end.

She had heard the horror stories of villages being overrun, she just didn't expect it to look like this.

Her heart ached seeing this terrible sight, wondering if there was anything they could've done to save these poor people.

"Velvet!" Coco's voice rang out, "Pay attention!"

Velvet's mourning came to a sudden halt as a Beowulf suddenly jumped at her ready to take a bite out of her.

Right before Velvet could react the beast was instantly obliterated by a fist as she looked over to see the newest member of Team CYMS had reacted before she could.

Velvet gave a quick nod of thanks as Mori acknowledged it with his own nod.

"Looks like we have some company!" Yatsuhashi shouted as a large pack of beowolves and ursa converged on their position.

"Get into position!" Coco shouted as she transformed her purse into a Gatling gun.

The group immediately gathered in a circle in order to not be separated.

Using her camera, Velvet immediately created a copy of Coco's weapon as Team CYMS started to fire on the pack.

Well, most of team CYMS, Mori didn't really have a weapon so right now he was useless.

"Why do you not have a long-ranged weapon!" Coco shouted in frustration as she continued to fire her dust rounds.

It seemed like their allies weren't the only ones to realize their problem.

Some of the pack seemed to realize there was a portion of the formation that didn't seem to have any fire as they all started to converge on that spot.

They were in trouble; they couldn't offer any aid to the 1st year as they were occupied by their own enemies. If they pierced through Mori's spot they would fall as they had no one to defend their backs.

Was this how it was going to end?

Suddenly a powerful wind pressure seemed to form as Velvet looked behind her to see if anyone activated wind dust.

It was just Mori as he was in a stance with what seemed like a dragon being formed.

"The kick of the blue dragon," Mori muttered as he unleashed his kick on the beowolves attempting to pierce what was supposedly the weak point of their formation.

A blinding light soon filled their eyes and when they opened them again all that was left from the first year's kick was destruction and disintegrating Grimm.

"Wha-" Coco said as her mouth dropped.

Heavy pressure seemed to fill the air as Mori turned around and walked towards what was left of the pack.

What came next was something that Velvet had never seen before…as if it were by instinct, the Grimm started to run away.

Velvet couldn't blame them, she wanted to get as far away from the abnormal boy herself.

Velvet let out a sigh of relief as she turned off her weapon, it seemed like they made out of the initial confrontation.

"Freshie!" Coco yelled as she put her weapon away, "What was that."

He ignored her as he went over to a dead body closed their eyes and started to dig a hole.

"Hey don't ignore me!"

"Mr. Jin," Professor Port said in a somber tone as he walked up and put a hand on his shoulder, "While your care for the dead is admirable, right now our focus should be for the living."

"Living? There's not much living around here right now," Coco snarked.

"Coco!" Yatsuhashi angrily shouted.

"Miss Adel," Professor Port said calmly, "Even though we may be too late to save the village as a whole we can still attempt to find survivors."

"…I'm Sorry about that Professor," Coco apologized as her temper went down.

Velvet thought that Coco had been way too mean, but she could understand the frustration coming out of Coco's voice.

There really didn't seem to be much evidence of living around the place.

"For now, it is best we split up," Professor Port said, "Time is of the essence and it is paramount that we find those who may still be alive waiting for our help. Each of you go with your partners and search the remains of buildings, we may be able to find people hiding still, we are to meet back here in an hour."

Coco nodded as she grabbed Mori and went one way while Professor Port went another way.

"Should we go that direction Vel?" Yatsuhashi asked as he pointed in a different direction.

Velvet nodded as they made their way to find survivors.

A couple of minutes of silence had passed before Yatsuhashi spoke up again.

"…So," Yatsuhashi said as he cut down a straggling beowolf, "Does our new teammate still make you feel uncomfortable?"

"Yatsu, it's not like that," Velvet said with an exasperated sigh, "It's just there's something about him that makes me feel a little wary."

"I could see why a guy who can kick like that can make someone wary of that."

"Yatsu, that feeling has nothing to do with his strength…I think."

Still, that really was some impressive power that the first year showed, there were rumors that he apparently blew up a harbor with a kick, Velvet didn't believe them at first but…

"I don't think there's anyone around here," Yatushashi said as he looked into the next building.

Velvet agreed there were no signs of life right now in this village.

All that was left of this poor village was death and destruction.

"We better head back then," Velvet said as they went back.

More moments of somber silence filled the air as they continued their way back.

"So, are you able to use his techniques?" Yatsuhashi asked, once again breaking the silence.

"Who, Mori?"

"No, the beowolf over there," Yatsu teased as he pointed to and shot at the nearby Grimm.

"Hey!" Velvet pouted, "I wanted to make sure,"

Though that was a good question, would she be able to copy him? Apparently, he didn't have a semblance so that meant his skills were just technical that meant it should be easy to copy his moves.

"So, can you?" The swordsman once again asked in a curious tone.

"I'll test it out on the next Beowolf,"

Not even a minute passed before another Grimm crossed their paths.

Activating her semblance, she immediately closed the gap between her and the monster and delivered three quick strikes to its head.

"I guess that answers that question," Yatsuhashi observed as he watched the Grimm disintegrate."

Velvet nodded as she continued to make her way back to the meeting spot…or at least tried to, as she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her side and immediately kneeled over.

"Velvet!" her partner cried out, "Are you ok?"

She nodded as she gingerly got up…that technique she did something to her hip.

"I'm fine, I just pulled something in my hip," Velvet said with a grimace, "I…I think it's the backlash of Mori's technique."

"Backlash?" the big swordsman repeated back, "What kind of crazy martial arts does that kid do if it hurts that much from one technique."

"I don't know but I'm not trying that again," Velvet complained as she tried to move…keyword being tried.

"Whoa there," Yatsuhashi said as he grabbed Velvet's arm to stop her from stumbling, "Let me carry you."

"You don't need to carry me," Velvet angrily replied, "I can walk on my own just fine."

She once again to try to prove her point…it failed as she found herself facedown the concrete.

"So, you can walk on your own just fine?" Yatsuhashi replied in a blank voice.

"Shut up,"

He picked her up and they made their way back to the meeting spot.

"What happened?" Velvet heard Coco ask in panic as they got back.

"Velvet hurt herself by pulling something when she was trying something out," Yatsuhashi explained as he let Velvet down, "Any luck finding anyone? We weren't able to."

"No," Mori answered, "There was nobody from where we checked."

"Shit," Coco swore, "I was hoping to find someone."

"Fear not dear students," Professor Port declared as he returned, "There may be a chance there would be some people hiding in the wilderness!"

"Great," Coco said, "We just need to have Fox…gahh we don't have Fox!" she suddenly panicked.

"Yes… we don't have Fox," Yatsuhashi replied, "I think that is why Mori is here."

"No, you idiot," Coco barked as she whacked Yatsuhashi over the head, "What I mean by we don't have Fox is we don't have his semblance to track people."

"That is a problem,"

"You idiot Fox, why did you have to get food poisoning."

"I do believe he'd say something like, 'he didn't choose to get food poisoning,"

"Yatsu, you are not helping,"

"Excuse me, what does his semblance do?" Mori asked as he interjected in the conversation, "And how does it track people,"

"His semblance is essentially telepathy," Velvet said after she finished massaging her hip and finally recovered enough that she could stand without them being in pain, "He can use it to both talk and listen to people's thoughts."

"Ohh, so if we had that we'd be able to find people no problem," Mori said as he put his fist in his hand.

"And we don't have that" Coco complained, "We won't be able to find anyone and even if we did it'd probably take weeks to locate them."

They were really in a conundrum, right now they had no idea if there were people even alive and even if they were they wouldn't be able to find them in time.

It looks like Team CYMS would be unable to finish their mission and would have to abandon it.

"Wait!" Mori spoke up, "I may be able to do something,"

Once again, the freshman did something she was not expecting as he suddenly got on all fours and started to sniff around.

"Wha-what's he doing?" Coco asked bewildered.

"I do believe Mr. Jin is attempting to locate survivors using his nose," Professor Port declared stroking his mustache, "Absolutely brilliant I say,"

"What is he part dog Faunus?"

"Yatsu!" Velvet cried looking at her partner in shock,

"Oh, sorry," he sheepishly replied rubbing his head.

"I got something," Mori said after sniffing around a bit, "There are definitely people still out there…I want to say 50…maybe 75?"

"How do you know that?" Coco asked in disbelief.

"I smelled it,"

"You smelled it?" Coco repeated with a disbelieving look.

"I smelled it," he repeated back.

"Well then Mr. Jin," Professor interrupted before Coco could retort again, "Lead the way, if you believe that there are still people out there then we must make haste."

And with that, the group left the ruined city and made their way, into the wilderness.

As they were leaving Velvet turned around and gave one last look at the destroyed village.

" _I hope we could find someone."_

* * *

"So…are you sure could smell people? Coca asked her temporary partner as he sniffed around.

They had been spending the last hour just wandering around trying to find survivors. To Coco's chagrin, there had been no luck so far.

"Yeah…there's a distinct scent," Mori said as he started to look around, "I just don't know where it's coming from…:

"They are still alive…right?" Velvet asked in concern

"They are," Mori nodded, "In fact, right now there should be someone close…but they aren't at the same time," He finished as he put his hand on his chin trying to figure out the exact location.

Coco really wished she had Fox right now, his semblance surely would have made it easier to find people.

Well, she could have worse…she was initially worried about being held down by a newbie but so far he had passed her tests…outside of his fashion sense, what he had on was passable, and the only reason she had accepted it was because everything else was so much worse and dull.

Still, he had proven himself to be strong and that he didn't need babysitting, so she'd give him that at least.

His tracking though…

"You, have sent us in circles for the past 10 minutes!" Coco complained, "We are wasting time!"

"It's just weird…I know they're around here," Mori muttered ignoring her complaints, "…Just where? ..."

"Mori?" Yastuhashi spoke up with a questioning tone, "What exactly do you mean by that it's weird?"

"…The spots where their smell is the strongest, I look around and there's no one there, and when I try to follow the scent it gets weaker."

"Hmm, that is quite an interesting conundrum," Professor Port said, stroking his mustache, "Whatever could be causing this problem?"

"Maybe their invisible," Yatsuhashi suggested, "It could a semblance?"

"No that wouldn't work," Coco pointed out, "If one of them had an invisibility semblance that'd mean they'd also have an aura,"

"Yeah, I was thinking invisibility as well," Mori muttered, "But I don't see any footprints to suggest anyone is around here and like Coco said if one of them had aura they'd be easy Grimm bait right now."

Coco looked in surprise at her temporary partner, she wasn't expecting them to be on the same wavelength for that.

Looks like the kid wasn't just all brawn no brain.

Still, being able to read minds would be reaaaalllll nice right now.

Too bad a certain blind idiot had to get food poisoning.

All that surrounded them right now was just trees, Grimm, and a cliffside… no people.

"Should we move on and try to find the next group?" Coco asked giving up on finding this group of people.

"…"

There was no response as her partner was just ignoring her staring at a cliffside.

"Hey, Freshie don't ignore me," Coco barked in frustration.

"Hey, I've got a question," Mori asked ignoring her once again.

"Go ahead, Mr. Jinn ask away," Professor Port replied.

"That cliffside over there," Mori pointed, "Do you think it's possible that they have any caverns?"

"Probably," Coco answered, "Why is that imp…"

Suddenly it hit her, why he kept on mention them being close but can't find them…they were literally under his nose!

"Quick, search the cliffside," Professor Port commanded as they made their way and tried to find any small cracks."

"I think I found something!" Velvet yelled a minute later.

It was a small hole, big enough to barely fit someone of average size in there.

"They are in there," Mori replied excitedly, "the scent is definitely strongest coming from here!"

Great, they had a location, now they just had to get them out of there.

"Great now let's go in there and find them," Coco said enthusiastically.

"Coco," Yatsuhashi said in a serious tone, "I don't think I'm small enough to fit in there."

"Hmm yes indeed," Professor Port chipped in, "My figure isn't quite as dashingly slim as it was before."

The group shared a collective groan at Port once again bragging about his past.

"It'd also be a bad idea to send more than one," Mori brought up, "It could be unstable sending in more than one person."

Sadly, Coco had to agree with the freshie, he was right, the structure of the cavern was questionable.

"Who should we send then?" Yatsuhashi asked.

'I'll go in," Velvet volunteered after thinking about it.

"Velvet no," Coco commanded, "You are still recovering from whatever you did in Lower Cairn."

"But…"

"No buts, I'm not risking your life needlessly."

"Should I go in then?" Mori asked as he volunteered to go in.

"…No,"

"No?"

"Coco, if you say no, that means you—"

"Look Vel, I will go in." Coco said with a grimace.

"But, Coco aren't you scar—"

"I know that!" Coco barked.

She really didn't want to go into that cavern. Coco did not do well in small spaces…at all.

"Is there any reason you should go instead of me?" Her partner asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Out of all of us you are the strongest in terms of combat," Coco said as she turned to the boy.

"I'd feel a lot better about my team's lives if you were up here helping protect the exit instead of going in."

"Ok then," Her partner nodded with an impressed look, "I will stay behind."

"You better not break my trust freshie."

"I promise I won't let anyone be harmed."

"All right then," Coco said as she took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

And with that, she entered the small cavern hoping to find the small family.

Going in wasn't as bad as she thought initially, why was she so scared of enclosed places anyways this wasn't too bad.

A couple of minutes later and she remembered why.

More and more she could feel the walls close around her, feeling rub against her she could start to feel herself tense up more…what would happen if the place suddenly collapsed?

She would be trapped with no way out being unable to wait just waiting for the end to come.

Why oh why did she have to be the one down here… oh right it was because it was the smart thing to do…dang it why did she have to try to be a good leader.

…She could turn back, say she couldn't find anyone and move on, no longer have to be in here…no that was not an option, the people trapped down here must be scared out of their minds….Coco wouldn't want to go out like that, so they shouldn't either.

Regathering her courage, she moved on.

A couple of minutes later her efforts finally bore some fruit.

She could hear voices tiny voices asking when they could leave and voices trying to reassure them.

"Hello!" Coco yelled out, "Is anyone there."

The tiny voices started to excitedly chatter before being hushed.

"Yes," A weary older male voice answered back, "Who is this?"

My name is Coco, I'm a member of Team CFV-, Team CYMS a Huntsman team from Beacon."

"A Huntsman Team!" a small voice cried out, "Are you here to save us?"

"We are," Coco said in a reassuring voice, "We just arrived and are trying to find survivors, how long have you been here?"

"A couple of days," The older voice replied back, "We had some supplies, but we started to run out,"

"How many of there are you?"

"About 6 of us, me, my wife, and our 4 children."

"Let's get you guys out of here and into safety then," Coco said, "Don't worry we will protect you."

"Thank you so much," the voice answered gratefully.

And with that Coco started her way back to above the ground.

"Thank you so much, Miss…?" The father asked as they got close to the entrance.

"Adel, Coco Adel."

"Linus Grey and my wife is named Rhea."

Finally getting to the entrance she could see daylight and a hand reach out to her.

"You ok Coco?" Yatsuhashi asked as he got her out.

"Yeah, I found them," Coco replied dusting off the dirt on her clothes.

A look of relief spread across the rescue group as they immediately helped the family out of the hole.

The joy of being out seemed to lift everyone's spirits.

"Oh no, Grimm!" Linus screamed out as they were helping the last of the kids out.

Too bad that seemed to end quickly.

It seemed like a couple of Ursa's and Death Stalkers seemed to have shown up.

Without warning, they struck.

Coco grabbed her weapon and started firing away.

"Daddy!" a small voice cried out, "Coco looked to see what was wrong, in an attempt to protect one of his children Linus had made himself a target to an Ursa.

Urggh she was too far away.

Shit, she couldn't do anything she was already occupied.

She could see the Ursa start to come unto Linus ready to make a meal out of him.

Time seemed to slow as the family's panic seemed to cause general chaos.

This was not good, it was hard enough to protect civilians on their own, but also when they aren't thinking?

If they didn't handle this right everyone would die.

Someone needed to do something.

Right when all seemed lost, the bear Grimm was suddenly destroyed…It was her partner who had barely made in time, sweat rolling down his forehead.

"You just have the best timing, don't you?" Coco sarcastically asked.

Par for course he ignored her as she saw him go into hyper focus and in an instant wipe out all the Grimm in the area with speed.

"WHOA!" One of the kids cried out.

"He's like a real superhero!"

"Are you guys ok?" he asked as he turned towards them.

They nodded yes in gratitude.

Coco finally let down her shoulders, finally being able to relax.

"How did you do that Mister!"

"THAT WAS SO COOL!"

The children seemed to gather around Mori as if he were a super hero.

"Now, now kids," Linus said as he finally recovered from the shock of almost dying, "Let's leave Mr. Huntsman alone so he could do his job."

"Daddy! We were so worried!"

The kids' attentions were turned from their newfound hero back to their father as they went to hug him.

Coco noticed her partner give a small smile yet could also see a hint of sadness coming off from him as he watched the family hug each other in relief.

"Are you ok?" she asked making sure he was all right.

"Yeah…I'm fine…just…never mind… let's keep searching for more survivors."

Coco decided not to push the subject further.

"Yes, we must make haste," Professor Port spoke up, "There are still survivors out there, correct Mr. Jin?"

Mori nodded as he once again put his sniffer to work.

"First things first, we should make a base camp." Coco said before they could continue the search, "It wouldn't be a good idea to travel in this big a group of people."

Everyone nodded as they began to search for a safe spot.

"That was very brave of you," Her partner commented as they walked.

"What?"

"Deciding to go into the cave even though you were afraid," Mori clarified, "It was the best decision and the hardest one for you to make."

"Freshie, I am a team leader I make hard decisions every day…but thank you, for well… everything."

"I'm just following your orders."

Coco gave a small smile as they continued to make their way to the safe spot.

Things were looking better now, they were finally making progress.

***Boom***

Her and her big mouth.

"WE'VE GOT A GOLIATH!" Yatsuhashi shouted out as he, Port, and Velvet started to fire at the massive Girmm.

No wonder Lower Cairn had been destroyed that quickly… there was a fucking Goliath.

"Do you think you can pull one more miracle out of your ass?" Coco muttered towards her partner as she got her gun out and started firing.

A pressure once again filled the air as she looked at her partner once more.

…she was being rhetorical.

As if space were bending, Mori fired off a kick immediately disintegrating the massive Grimm on contact.

"HE REALLY IS A SUPERHERO!"

Coco could only shake her head, of course, wonder boy could disintegrate a Goliath in one kick.

She really shouldn't be surprised any more.

"Well done Mr. Jin," Professor Port said hitting the boy's back in a jovial tone, "That was quite impressive."

The kids once again swarmed Mori in awe of what he did with lights shining in their eyes.

Coco couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"We were lucky he was here," Yatsuhashi commented as they continued their way as Velvet nodded in agreement.

Coco hated to agree that Yatsu was right, she may have been initially worried about the new guy but he really was integral in keeping everyone alive

…His fashion sense still sucked though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta's  
> Woof28  
> Eliad91  
> Patrician Lurker


	17. Chapter 17: Rule Breaker

"Is there anyone that needs water!" Velvet yelled as she passed around water bottles, "Yatsu, help me out here!"

Listening to his partner Yatsuhashi went over and started helping her pass out water bottles.

"Thank you."

"You guys are real lifesavers."

"Are the other Huntsmen back yet?"

These past few days had been incredibly busy for Team CYMS, with Mori's nose they had been able to find more and more survivors.

Each day was filled with finding and rescuing more and more people.

For the most part, the survivors had been hidden underground like the Grey's, some were above it, running for their lives, thankfully outside of the first rescue, no other big Grimm attacks had happened.

They were not expecting so many survivors. Originally it was just the Grey family who just stuck around them, but as they found more and more people it became apparent that they needed to create a base camp to hold everyone.

That's when it was decided to split the group into two groups, the rescue group consisted of Mori, Coco, and Port. While he and Velvet were in charge of protecting the Refugees that were already found.

It was tough finding resources for everyone but thankfully they were able to scavenge the remains of Lower Cairns for supplies.

After finding the supplies they needed, they immediately set to build small defenses and organized the survivors in a way that would make them easier to watch out for and easy to distribute said supplies to.

All in all, they had built a pretty good camp that was well fortified with enough food and water for everyone that was in there already and that was coming in.

In total, they had rescued around 70 to 80 people may be more depending on if the rescue squad of Mori, Coco, and Professor Port were able to find more people."

"Incoming!" A voice yelled out, "We've got more survivors!"

Yatsuhashi turned towards the source of the yelling, speak of the devil, it was Coco and Mori, it looked like the rescue party had found more people.

"We need quick medical attention," Mori yelled out as he quickly carried in a wounded person.

"I got it," Velvet answered as she brought her first aid kit out, "How bad is it?"

"Head trauma fell and hit her head when she was running away from Grimm, we barely made it in time."

"Got it."

With that Velvet began to apply first aid to the victim.

Mori after giving the wounded girl to her then directed the other members of the rescued group to a place where they could be fed and clothed.

"Any news on those bullheads from Beacon?" Coco asked as she went over to Yatsuhashi.

Initially, they were only expected to save the village so they weren't expecting to need evacuation efforts, thankfully they were able to contact Beacon and get a message that they needed support.

"They should be arriving in the evening," Yatsuhashi reported, "Apparently the delay we got is because they weren't expecting so many refugees, so they're scrambling to find extra bullheads to bring."

"That's good, I am so done with this mission, once we get back, I'm going to take a long hot shower and take a nice long nap on my bed."

Yatsuhashi agreed, it would be nice to get back on his nice warm bed.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm looking forward to eating food that isn't dehydrated junk," Mori complained as he rubbed his stomach.

"You're the one who eats most of the food!" Coco barked as she whacked her temporary partner over the head, unfortunately for her, she forgot who she was hitting, with the end result grasping her hand in pain, "I've said this multiple times throughout the week, but what are you made of?"

"I was born from a rock."

"Yeah, it sure feels like it."

"So, how many people are left?" Yatsuhashi asked, as much as he enjoyed Coco's little comedy skits with Mori, it was important to know that they wouldn't be leaving anyone behind.

"That actually should be all of them," Coco replied with a smile, "Wonderboy says he can't really smell anything else."

"Yeah, I don't smell anyone else, though… actually never mind we should be fine to gather everyone and leave."

"That's good," Yatsuhashi replied with a sigh of relief.

If all went well, they would be back in Beacon by tonight. This mission had gone way faster than they had expected, they were told they would be gone for a couple of weeks at least, instead, it hadn't even been a week.

"Is Mr. Jin back!"

"I think he is!"

"Yay!"

A small object soon ran past Yatsuhashi, then another one and another one, and in an instant, the youngest member of Team CYMS was surrounded by many tiny people.

"Can you teach me more martial arts!"

"I want to learn how to disintegrate Grimm with a kick!"

"How many Grimm did you slay today?"

Yatsuhashi could only smile at the sight of all the children in the camp starting to dogpile the brown spiky-haired boy.

"Now, now kids I'm sure Mr. Jin is very tired from another day of rescuing people." One of the mothers stepped in before the children could overwhelm Mori.

Sounds of whining were greeted by the mother's attempt to get Mori some space as they reluctantly got off the boy.

"I will play with you guys later," Mori promised, "I just need to do huntsman stuff."

One by one the kids reluctantly said goodbye.

"Thank you," Mori said in relief to the Mother that helped him out.

"It's no problem, Mr. Jin, this is all I can really do for saving our lives." The woman responded as she ushered the last kid out.

"Man, those kids really love you," Coco commented as she watched the last of them leave.

"It's probably because I've been using my spare time to teach them some fighting techniques."

"Sure, that's the reason," Coco sarcastically replied back.

The other reason being the kids had seemed to have taken the boy to be some super huntsman.

Yatsuhashi had to admit that their admiration was hardly misplaced.

He had been apprehensive of the boy at first because he was unknown and that feeling only got worse when he heard from Velvet that she was uncomfortable around him.

Then he saw him in the field. It wasn't just his fighting experience that impressed Yatsuhashi, even though that one shot of the Goliath was very impressive.

He was not a freshman in terms of experience, everything that they had been taught in their second year, he performed either at or above.

From tracking down survivors with his nose to navigating the land to being able to handle rescue efforts with ease he knew what he was doing.

Honestly, at times it felt like there was a second Huntsman with them.

It wasn't just Team CYMS that he gave a calming feeling to either.

His presence was also comforting for the villagers as well, the feeling of worry the older survivors had was just not there when he was out playing with the children.

This mission had gone very well and it looked like they would make it through with the best results.

"I've finished patching the girl up," Velvet said as she got to the group, "She should be fine."

"Is there anything else that we need to focus on?" Yatsuhashi asked.

Coco nodded no.

"Where's Professor Port by the way?" Velvet asked, trying to find the veteran huntsman.

"He's checking something out," Coco replied with a flippant tone, "Probably just double-checking to make wonder boy didn't miss anyone."

"…I don't know about that," Mori said as he put his hand on his chin.

At that, the other members of Team CYMS looked at the boy trying to get an explanation from him.

"We haven't really seen many Grimm the past few days," The boy explained, "I think Professor Port noticed that and wanted to check it out."

"I mean we've pretty much wiped out all the Grimm around here," Coco pointed out, "So, of course, there would be less Grimm around."

"…I guess."

Yatsuhashi really hoped that Coco was right, because if she wasn't…No, they would be fine, the bullheads were almost here.

"We should probably inform everyone the bullheads will be arriving soon." Velvet said as she started to head to the main part of the camp.

Everyone nodded as they made their way to announce the good news.

Just as they reached the base of the camp Professor Port suddenly appeared with a serious face.

"My dear students," Professor Port said all the energy in his tone gone, "I have very grave news."

* * *

Mori took a deep breath as he stared at the wide expanse…how many more minutes did he have? 1? …2?

Oh well, It didn't really matter, he'd better use this time was to go through his forms, 

As he mentally went through each of his forms, his thoughts wandered back to the events of the last hour.

**One Hour Ago**

"There's What!" Coco yelled as she slammed her hand on the table.

"A massive Grimm Horde coming our way," Mori said sullenly as he replied for Professor Port.

"I know what he said Freshie, I was being rhetorical."

"Do you have an exact number Professor?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"I dare say there's around one thousand of them."

A sharp breath can be heard being taken by the other members of Team CYMS.

"A…a thousand of them?" Velvet said trembling.

"…How did so many Grimm start to gather without us noticing?" Coco asked with a concerned face.

Mori's observations were right, the Grimm's behavior had started to become more and more abnormal the last couple of days, he wasn't seeing as many as when he got here, and it wasn't because Team CYMS was destroying more.

The question was how?

The Grimm were mostly mindless, so being able to gather in such a large amount on their own seemed to be highly improbably.

The only way they could have done this maneuver under their noses was…

"Something is gathering them, correct Professor?" Mori asked trying to confirm his hypothesis.

Professor Port nodded.

"You are correct Mr. Jin, the only way these Grimm could have moved this way is something else controlling them.

"What kind of things can do that?" Velvet asked in a concerned tone.

A moment of silence filled the room.

"…There are a couple of things I believe can do that," Professor Port said with a grim look, "I believe I have narrowed it down to an individual one…It is a Grimm called a Piper,"

"A Piper?" Yatsuhashi questioned, "What does it do."  
"It's a very small Grimm with its physical strength being no more than a child, yet its size is deceiving in this case, it is one of the most dangerous Grimm alive."

"It's incredibly intelligent isn't it, Professor?" Coco said with a grimace on her face.

"Exceedingly intelligent, and combined with its power to control Grimm it's like facing a well-organized army."

"Great," Coco complained, "Not only are we facing one thousand Grimm but now these Grimm know tactics."

"And we also have to protect the survivors," Mori chipped in.

"Maybe we don't have to face them head-on," Velvet suggested, "The Bullheads are arriving soon so if we can evacuate everyone by then we should be fine."

"They won't be arriving for another hour or two, even if they did, we have so many people that it will be hard to evacuate them all in time," Coco said, shooting down Velvet's idea.

"Could we possibly move everyone to a different spot?" Yatsuhashi asked as he attempted to come up with a solution.

"That won't work either," Professor Port said, "It's hard enough to move this large amount of people but we still have wounded that can barely move without assistance."

"What can we do then?" Velvet asked.

"…We'll have to fight them," Mori spoke up.

Professor Port nodded.

"Correct Mr. Jin, we will have to fight them, or at least delay them for long enough for a bullhead to arrive."

"What's the plan then Coco?" Mori asked as he turned to his temporary partner.

"…I'm not sure," Coco said with a worried face.

"You are not sure?" Velvet said shocked.

"Coco, what do you mean?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"If we all go and fight them that will leave the refugees unattended," Coco explained, "By the sounds of what Professor Port is saying, the Piper will be smart and probably attack them while we confront the horde."

"But we would need all the manpower we can get for one thousand Grimm," Velvet protested.

"Can we not just fortify until the bullheads get here?" Yatsuhashi suggested.

"That won't work either, if we are besieged by Grimm the Bullheads won't be able to land properly and more people will be in danger," Coco said refuting Yatsuhashi's idea.

"This is the reason why the Piper is so dangerous," Professor Port said with a serious voice, "Its ability to control vast numbers of Grimm mean very few Huntsmen teams survive fighting against it."

"The best option would be to have a group fortify the base while others would fight against the Grimm. The problem is we don't have enough people to split them up like that," Coco said with a frustrated tone.

"…I'll fight them alone," Mori said speaking up for the first time in a while.

"…What?" Coco said as she turned to him.

"I'll fight them alone," Mori repeated himself, "Everyone else will protect the survivors while I will meet the Grimm in the field and take them on myself."

"Are you dumb?" Coco angrily replied, "I don't care how much of a super huntsman you are, there is no way you can take on that many Grimm by yourself."

"Mr. Jin, while your courage is admirable, teamwork is a key part of being a huntsman," Professor Port said in a serious tone, "There are many stories when huntsmen go on their own, only to fall."

"It's the best option," Mori explained, "The survivors are more important than getting rid of Grimm, so we should put most of our resources into protecting them."

"See that's a new idea freshie," Coco sarcastically replied, "Except, the resources spent on fighting the Grimm will just be you."

"I will be fine," Mori replied, "I don't get hurt that easily and I will just need to fight them long enough for you guys to evacuate everyone."

He then turned and looked into Coco's eyes with conviction.

"I will be fine; this is the best way for everyone to survive."

Coco seemed to hesitate before taking one more look into Mori's eyes.

"…Fine we will go with your way, but you won't be able to bottle the Grimm by yourself, so Velvet nd I will stay provide cover fire."

"Coco, he's going to die," Velvet protested.

"Let's see about that Velvet," Coco responded, "Hey freshie are you going to die?"

Mori nodded no.

"See, Vel he'll be fine,"

"That's not an-"

"Now's not the time to question my decisions," Coco barked, "Prepare the fortifications, and you!"

She barked as she turned to Mori one more time.

"You better buy us enough time."

Mori nodded as he went to get ready.

**Present**

Professor Port offered to help him as he went out, but Mori declined it.

It'd be too hard to keep track of the old man while fighting in a mass group that and it would be better for the old Huntsman to be a reassuring figure for the refugees.

He could see the wall of black slowly make its way above the horizon.

"You ready freshie?" Coco asked as she walked up to him loading her weapon.

Mori nodded as he finished his mental practice.

"I still think this is a terrible idea," Velvet said as she snapped a couple more photos of Coco's weapon.

"I've always wondered…how does your weapon work?" Mori asked as he looked at Velvet's camera.

It really was quite a neat weapon, and combined with her semblance made Velvet a formidable opponent.

"Don't worry about that right now freshie, all you need to worry about is that Grimm horde." Coco interrupted before Velvet could explain.

Right, right, he needed to focus on his job... annihilating Grimm.

Mori once again looked through the horde, this time trying to find the Grimm that was causing all of this trouble, if he could destroy it early that would make things a lot easier for him.

…No luck, oh well, he'd just have to do it the old fashion way…one by one.

"Alright, let's do this!" Coco yelled as she and Velvet started to fire their weapons.

Taking a deep breath Mori jumped straight into combat, ready to destroy as many Grimm as possible.

The first victim was just a Beowolf.

" _Where was the weak point of the Beowolf again,"_ Mori thought to himself, _"ahh, right there"_

With one quick kick, he hit the Beowolf in the midsection crumpling it in one hit.

After finishing that one Mori turned to his side as he then struck the next Grimm, an Ursa.

" _I believe Professor Port said the weakest point on the Ursa was around here,"_

Once again, he ended the Grimm with one hit.

It looks like Professor Port's lessons were actually helpful in fighting the Grimm.

Shaking off his idle thoughts he moved on to the next Grimm as he continued to destroy them with just one strike to their weak points.

" _No useless movements."_

" _Only use just enough energy to destroy them in one hit."_

He needed to be efficient as possible with his energy as he didn't know what he was facing, if he used to much power it'd be wasted, if he used too little it'd require more to energy end the beasts.

One after another he continued to fight the Grimm.

" _Hmmm some of the Beowolves look bigger than average…are those alphas?"_

" _They should have the same biology as regular ones."_

Noting the stronger Beowolves Mori made quick work of the tougher Grimm.

A loud roar was suddenly heard.

"Freshie! You've got a goliath!"

Another goliath huh?

" _Where did that paper say the weak point of a goliath was…I think it was around here…?"_

In an instant, Mori struck the knees of the monster as it crumpled to the ground with a loud thud.

The bigger they are the harder they fall.

He continued to make good work as he mowed through Grimm after Grimm.

Still, this was an interesting experience, he hadn't really fought numbers this large since he lost his powers, if he was at his peak, he could probably end them with a sneeze…actually he could probably end Remnant with a sneeze.

It really was unfair how much of his powers were taken from him.

No, no, now was not the time to think about what he had lost.

He quickly mowed through more and more Grimm.

Instead, he would think about what he had and focus on what he can do.

Continuously fighting through the monsters Mori could feel that the Grimm were no longer focused on reaching the camp but instead were focused solely on him.

…good it seemed like the Piper considered him more of a threat than anyone else. That meant he could go deeper into the horde.

The increased attention did nothing to stop Mori as he continued his rampage against the monsters.

As he finished another pack of Ursa his instincts had him quickly dodge boulders that fell on him.

" _What was that?"_

" _Ahh, it's that rock type monster over there…were there any Rock-type Grimm?"_

Mori immediately fired off a blue dragon's kick that destroyed everything in its way.

" _That should do it…oh?"_

Apparently, the Grimm wasn't a rock type at all, it really was just a bunch of rocks, the actual culprit was the Grimm that was possessing those rocks. What was it again... oh right, a Geist! He remembered hearing about those.

As it possessed another set of Rocks, before it could attack again Mori fired off a recoilless kick, destroying it before it had a chance to react.

" _That should take care of that."_

" _I really need to do something about those flyers though,"_ Mori thought to himself as he dodged Nevermores' firing their feathers at him.

Just before he could do anything they were suddenly shot down by Coco and Velvet.

" _Nevermind."_

With the aerial threats gone, Mori continued his one-sided dominance.

As he continued to fight deeper and deeper into the horde Mori began to focus his attention on searching for the Grimm Commander.

After mowing through a couple more Ursa's he finally found what he was looking for.

It was small, about the size of a small child, with a mask that looked like a clown and a flute that was made of Grimm bone.

Currently, it was riding on top of a Goliath.

 _"Let's see if we can bring this Grimm down to size."_ Mori thought as he went to the Goliath's feet to knock it down.

With its ride destroyed the small Grimm tried fell on the ground with a thump, now in a panic realizing it had been found out it started to play its flute calling more Grimm to protect it.

They were barely bumps in the road as Mori destroyed them in one hit with quick strikes.

The Grimm continued its futile attempt to run away but it was no use as Mori was able to catch up and grab the Grimm by its face.

Before killing it he took look at the thing in curiosity as it struggled to get away from him, Grimm really did come in different shapes and sizes, what kind of being could create such a beast? Oh well, he'd figure that out later. The most important thing would be that it died like the rest.

"Now, you won't be causing problems for anyone else," Mori stated as he crushed its head with his grip.

The beast went limp starting to disintegrate.

He looked back at the horde throwing the Pipers body away, he had accomplished his first objective, the Grimm won't be able to act in unison anymore…

…Oh crap, since the Piper was focusing most of its efforts on him, it allowed him to go deep into the horde without fear of letting them past him.

Now that it was gone, there was nothing stopping the beasts from just rushing Coco, Velvet, and the village.

He'd better destroy them quickly.

 _"Damn, that was stupid of me,"_ He mentally berated himself as he charged back into the fray.

Firing off Renewal technique after renewal technique Mori once again started to fight the horde.

" _I think I'm understanding how these moves link."_

" _If I do this, I follow up with that,"_ He thought to himself as he continued strike after strike.

" _You know_ … _this is kind of fun,"_

Mori could feel himself go deeper and deeper into combat.

It really was fun fighting, even though he wasn't as powerful as he was before, it was still a lot of fun trying to use his moves as effectively and efficiently as possible.

He was really starting to understand his Renewal Taekwondo, every move was connected.

He was close… he could feel it, he was close to reaching the level of where his grandfather was at.

Just a little bit further and soon he'd reach that pina—

"Freshie! Freshie!"

Mori's concentration was suddenly broken.

"Huh… Coco? …are the Bullheads here?"

"No, they aren't," She replied as she looked over him as she lowered glasses.

Velvet on the other hand looked for some reason looked frightened.

Did she have a close call with a Grimm?

"What's up then, I still need to fight the Grimm,"

"…Do you really not know?" Coco asked with a disbelieving voice.

"Know what?"

"Freshie…You've already destroyed all the Grimm."

Mori looked around the field he was in; she was right, he was just surrounded by disintegrating corpses with no alive Grimm insight.

"Huh…I guess I did."

* * *

Coco didn't freak out; she always maintained her cool.

…However, she still wasn't quite sure how to process this afternoon's events…actually more the entire mission.

She had been trained her entire life to be a Huntress and with that training came certain rules.

You can't fight Grimm without Aura.

An Enemy with a weapon is more dangerous than one without.

You do not under any circumstance try to fight on your own, you always stay with your team.

EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE RULES WERE BROKEN BY HER PARTNER.

He can destroy Grimm quite easily without his aura.

She'd rather face ten armed Huntsman than go against him with her team.

And then there was the giant shit he took on the Team concept.

Yeah, she and Velvet were providing him with bullet support.

But she was pretty sure he did not need their help, as evident by the fact that he seemed to be smiling while fighting off the horde of Grimm.

What kind of psycho smiles while they are completely surrounded by enemies?

Hell, in the bullhead right now he was just writing stuff down in his notebook muttering something stuff she couldn't really understand.

It was like this afternoon was just a picnic for him.

What kind of place did he come from where a monster like him was created?

"Coco, we are back," Yatsuhashi said interrupted her thoughts as they could once again see the sights of Vale.

It was a welcome sight to see the beautiful city, especially compared to the destroyed town they had spent their week in.

Once the Bullhead landed the team was greeted by the chaotic sight of Vale officials yelling directions at refugees from their mission.

In total they had saved around 80 people, that number was unheard of for saving a destroyed village, you'd be lucky to save around 10 people.

No wonder the Vale officials seemed to be overwhelmed.

"I assume you guys are the Team who saved these people?" One of the officials asked as they got off.

Coco nodded yes.

"We've been trying to direct these refugees to another spot to get vetted and help to find a new place, but they have been insisting that they personally thank the Huntsman team who saved them."

"Look they're finally here!"

"Yay, we can see them one more time!"

"Where's Mr. Jin?"

As if on cue Team CYMS were surrounded by the crowd of people giving their thanks by hugs and handshakes.

The one who seemed to get the most attention was of course wonder boy himself.

Everyone seemed to want to have a piece of him.

After the Vale officials were finally able to get everyone to clear out all that remained was one family…the Grey Family.

"Thank you so much for saving our lives," Mr. Grey said with a smile, "I don't know what we could have done without you guys."

"It's no problem," Coco said with a smile, "We are Huntsmen that's what we do."

"True, but not many Huntsmen can save this many people and keep everyone safe," Mrs. Grey pointed out, "So for that we thank you."

Coco nodded accepting their thanks.

The children on the other hand seemed to go to Mori as each of them gave him a hug and thanks.

As he finished hugging all of them the oldest seemed to linger wanting to say something.

"Is there something wrong?" Mori asked as he kneeled down.

"I just wanted to tell you, Mr. Jin," The oldest said twiddling his thumbs, "That…I want to become a strong huntsman just like you!"

"Hey, I wanted to say that." Another one of the children shouted out.

"Mr. Jin, I want to say that I want to become even more amazing than you!" The youngest bragged.

Mori chuckled as the kids started to argue.

"I'm sure you guys will," he replied with a smile, "Especially if you guys follow my lessons, which were?"

"If you don't have to take a hit don't, Attack first, and always practice the basics!" The kids shouted in unison.

"And the most important!?"

"Never be afraid of your opponent!" They yelled back.

"Good!" Mori said with a smile, "Now go back to your parents I think they're waiting for you guys to find a new home."

And with that, the kids were off.

"That was rare," Yatsuhashi commented.

"What, them wanting to be a huntsman?" Mori questioned.

"No, them wanting to become a Huntsmen because of you."

Mori tilted his head waiting for an explanation.

"Most people that become Huntsmen who survived Grimm attacks like this do so out of revenge, not out of being inspired by someone."

"Oh… huh," Mori replied scratching the side of his face, "Well, I think they will do well."

"I'm excited to see what kind of future they will have," Velvet said with a smile.

"I'm sure they'll grow up to be excellent Huntsmen," Yatsuhashi chipped in, "Especially since they have quite a strong image of one."

"Yeah you guys really showed how strong you were," Mori commented.

"Mori, we are talking about you," Velvet said in exasperation.

"Me?" Mori said as he pointed at himself, "I really didn't do much, all I did was fight and locate, you guys did more rescuing."

"Yeah fight," Coco snarked, "It totally was normal fighting off a thousand Grimm."

"Indeed!" Professor Port jovially said, "I have never quite seen a feat like yours, Mr. Jin, it was absolutely astonishing, so astonishing that I in fact will tell your story in my classes so that it will be remembered for the ages!"

"Please don't make me one of your stories Professor Port," Mori begged.

"Well, Team CYMS seems to be back earlier than expected," A voice said interrupting their conversation

It was Professor Ozpin dressed in a nice suit.

"I heard word that you were close to finishing your mission, but I wasn't expecting it to be so soon." He said in a calm voice.

"Yes Professor," Coco replied as she turned to attention, "We were able to reach Lower Cairn's and rescue the remaining survivors successfully."

"While it is usually common practice to have a debriefing, I believe you and your team have earned some rest."

"Thank you, Sir,"

"As for you Mr. Jin," Professor Ozpin said as he turned towards the boy, "I do believe you have quite impeccable timing."

Mori tilted his head trying to figure out what the professor meant.

"Today's the Beacon Dance," Professor Ozpin explained, "I do believe your friends will be quite excited to see that you have reminded."

"Oh! I better head over then."

"Wait!" Coco said stopping the boy from leaving.

He turned towards her and looked at her with a questioning look.

"Don't tell me you are going in that?" She asked with a grimace.

"…What's wrong with this?" He asked with a dumb look on his face.

Oh my god, he may be an unstoppable juggernaut in the field, but his fashion sense was still a disaster.

"…Look," Coco said with a sigh, "You can't just go to a dance looking like that, let me go to town real quick and get you something."

"Well… I guess thanks, Coco,"

"No problem freshie."

"Oh before you do that," Professor Ozpin said right as Coco started to go get her partner something suitable, "I'd like to talk to you alone, Miss. Adel. It shouldn't take too long would that be ok?"

Her Team nodded as they went off.

"What would you like to talk about Professor?" Coco asked.

"I'd like your opinion on your thoughts about your temporary partner."

"Mori?"

"Yes, Mr. Jin."

"Well he has a good head on him," Coco started, "He kept up with my decisions and the team cohesion was as good as if it was with Fox."

"Mmhmm," Ozpin nodded, "Now tell me Miss Adel…what are your real thoughts on him?"

Coco was caught off guard by Professor Ozpin's incredibly direct question.

"Well…if I'm going to be honest Professor…he's an absolute monster." She said as she admitted her real thoughts on him

"A monster you say?" Ozpin said with an intrigued voice.

"Not like in a bad way, but more like…the stuff he does…it shouldn't be possible."

Ozpin nodded as he waited for her to explain more.

"It's just…every rule I've been taught from my training he breaks and he treats what most veteran huntsman are wary of like a plaything…I was going to mention this during the debriefing but, he fought off a horde Grimm easily! Who does that?"

"A horde?"

"Yes, a Horde, It was…I can't describe it it was, it was."

"Awe-inspiring?" Ozpin suggested,

"Yes, awe-inspiring," Coco said as she finally got the words to describe this afternoon, "It was like I was watching, like watching—"

"It was like watching an unstoppable force, with the only thing the opposition could do was fall before him…is that correct Miss Adel?"

Coco nodded, as Professor Ozpin was able to finish her words.

"And the only thing you could do is stand and watch, wondering if that sort of strength was even humanely possible." Ozpin finished with a small smile.

Coco nodded again as Ozpin seemed to put the words in her mouth.

A couple of moments of silence seemed to fill the air as she the memory of the way he tore through the Grimm replayed in her mind.

"That is all I have to ask of you Miss Adel," Ozpin said finally breaking the silence, "I do believe we've kept Mr. Jin waiting long enough, I'm sure his friends will be very excited to see him soon."

Coco nodded as she left to go help Mori find something that was somewhat presentable

Conversations with Professor Ozpin were usually inspiring, and she could always learn something from him.

Something seemed to bug her about this conversation though…from the way Ozpin talked… it felt like he was there…watching with her.


	18. Chapter 18: The Beacon Two Step

The last few days had been uneventful for Jaune, he tried to get a date to the dance with Weiss…But just as he was about to ask her, he overheard her ask Neptune.

That kind of hurt…but at the same time, it really didn't. If Weiss wanted to go with Neptune that's who she wanted to be with and even though he wanted to be with her, he'd much rather Weiss be happy with who she chose.

Still, it did make things a bit lonely for him since he had no one to go with…but enough about him, his inability to get a date was the least of his problems right now.

Well, since he was dateless, he'd better get a prime spot near the punch bowl, looks like he wasn't the only one to think that.

"Hey Ruby, I see this spot is pretty popular," He commented.

"Yepppp" Ruby responded with an emphasis on the last letter.

"Well, here's to the socially awkward," Jaune commented as he grabbed a cup and raised it.

"Here, here" Ruby replied as she copied his movements.

"So, how's it hanging," Jaune asked as he filled his cup with punch.

"mmm, nothing much." The redhead responded, "Just slowly dying from these lady stilts."

"Come on, they aren't that bad right?"

Ruby just gave him a blank stare as a response.

"Why don't we trade I can wear your shoes and you can wear my heels?"

"Ok, I get your point."

"Exactly."

"Soo, you look pretty tonight," Jaune commented.

"My word, Jaune Arc are you hitting on me," The girl teased, "Careful, you wouldn't want my boyfriend to overhear you."

"That was a mistake ok!" Jaune cried back.

Why oh why did he ever tell Ruby that he was worried that he thought it looked like he was hitting on her when they first meant.

"I'm just messing with you Vomit Boy," Ruby joked as she lightly punched his arm.

"I thought we agreed to stop calling me that Crater Face."

"Hey!"

After laughing at the girl's pouting face for a couple of seconds Jaune's eye's drew back onto the dance floor at the sight of Blake and Sun dancing.

"So, looks like you guys were able to convince Blake to come," He commented as he took a sip from his cup.

"Yuuupp," the Redhead responded as she took a sip from her own cup.

"What finally convinced her?"

"I half believe it was to see Sun trying to wear a tie." Ruby joked as she looked over at the Monkey Faunus, "I don't think they are supposed to be worn that way though."

"I'm just surprised he's finally covering up his Abs."

"They are nice abs though."

Yeah, they were, Jaune could only wish he could get abs like Sun.

"So, what really convinced her?"

"Yang had a talk with Blake, I wasn't sure what it was about but by the end of their talk she finally convinced Blake to come."

"That's good, at least we got one of our friends to come today," Jaune carelessly commented.

"…Yeah," Ruby sadly replied as her eyes focused on her drink.

Shoot, he wasn't thinking, he brought up that minefield.

Ever since Mori had left on his mission bringing him up had become a bit of a touchy topic, especially around Ruby.

To be honest, Jaune really wasn't happy with his friend.

Jaune was irritated with Mori. Yes, they were Huntsmen, and the job came first. But Mori didn't have to hurt Ruby like that. He literally said they could've gotten someone else to do it and for what? Not because he was the only option available or because he firmly believed he could save the most lives but because he felt like it was a good way to get stronger.

It was a selfish reason for a dickish act.

It was bad enough that his training consumed him on a normal basis, but now there was this!

It's seemed like all he cared about these days was getting stronger.

What was the point of strength for strength itself if the pursuit hurt people you cared about?

No, no Jaune wasn't going to go over this again.

Mori made his decision and he decided he'd rather go off and train instead of spending time with everyone else.

"Sorry I didn't mean to bring that up." Jaune apologized.

"It's fine you didn't do anything and it's not like what he did was wrong," Ruby dully responded.

An awkward moment of silence filled the space between the two.

"Sorry you couldn't go with Weiss," Ruby spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Eh it's fine," Jaune replied, "If Weiss wants to go with Neptune I get it, he's much cooler than me."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"Well not many people can pull of blue hair, but he does it pretty well." Jaune glumly replied as he took a sip of his drink.

"No, I mean…Weiss came alone." Ruby clarified.

"What?" Jaune choked out.

"Yeah, she said she was too busy for boys."

Jaune looked over now to where Weiss was, she was trying to fix something and looking very unhappy…that was not the look of someone who was too busy.

He then took a look over at Neptune, who was busy laughing and having the time of his life with Sun and Blake."

"Hold my punch," Jaune said while narrowing his eyes giving his cup to Ruby.

Looks like Mori wasn't the only person he was going to be ticked at.

As he went over to talk to Neptune, he briefly saw Pyrrha as well looking lonely, he went to talk to her but that wasn't important, Neptune was the main focus.

It was after talking with Pyrrha that he was able to find his target conveniently come up to him.

"Yo Jaune, what's up?"

"You!" Jaune growled as he came upon the sight of the blue-headed knucklehead.

"Me?

"Yes you," Jaune snarled back, "What are you thinking?" He said smacking Neptune on the backside of his head.

"Ow! Uhh, I'm thinking why are you hitting me?" he said as he clutched his head.

"No, that's not what I meant!" Jaune barked as he smacked him again in the same spot.

"Oww!" Neptune whined, "Has anyone ever told you that you hit hard."

Not really, no, Mori and Pyrrha just mostly shrugged off his hits.

"So, tell me Neptune, what's up with flirting with Weiss and when she asks you out, you reject her?"

"Oh, that's what you are talking about…it just didn't work out."

Something about Neptune's answer seemed off to Jaune.

"Didn't work out, why? Are you too good for her?" he grilled.

"No, that's not wh—"

"Is it because you think she's not your type?"

"No, she's really great, it just—"

"Or do you just enjoy stringing girls along?"

"What no! It's just…I can't dance." Neptune sheepishly replied in a whisper.

"…What?"

"I said I can't dance."

"So, you are telling me, you rejected Weiss Schnee, one of the prettiest, most talented girls we've both probably met… because you can't dance?"

"Yes."

Jaune could feel a migraine coming to his head.

"So, you'd rather break a girl's heart and let her go to a dance she'd been looking to forward to alone…just because you don't have moves and wanted to save your pride?"

"Uhh, yes?"

Well, Mori's stupid reason just got one-upped.

"I feel better about myself now."

"Please don't tell anybody. Look, if you want Weiss, she's all yours. I don't wanna get in your way," Neptune cried out.

Red suddenly filled Jaune's vision.

Even though Neptune had a point; Weiss was feeling vulnerable and sad right now and now was as good of a chance as any to ask her out.

But that wasn't right.

"Look Neptune," Jaune said putting his hand firmly on the blue head's shoulder, "Do you like Weiss?"

"I guess? I don't know her very well, but she seems cool."

"Then just go talk to her. No pickup lines, no suave moves, just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go,"

"Yeah, but then—"

"Hey! You don't have to look cool all the time," Jaune interrupted, "In all honesty, if you could be a little less cool, I'd really appreciate it."

A moment of silence filled the room as Neptune seemed to compliment Jaune's words.

"Yeah, okay," Neptune said after digesting his thoughts.

"Go talk to her. I guarantee it'll make her night." Jaune said pushing him towards the heiress.

"Thanks, You're a really cool guy, Jaune," Neptune replied as he held his hand out for a fist bump.

"I know I am," Jaune replied as he reciprocated it.

"Hey, Jaune… you are interested in Weiss as well, right? So why are you encouraging me to go towards her." Neptune asked before he left.

Jaune thought about it, what was he doing sending a rival off to the girl he was interested in?

He really did want to ask Weiss out, but…

"…It's because that's what I want to do," Jaune commented with a smile.

"That doesn't make any sense."

No, it didn't.

**Present**

"Ok Jaune," Mori interrupted, "I understand how the dance started and I really am sorry about how I handled things with Ruby, but you are still not going over the giant Goliath in the room."

"Yeah, the reason why I didn't go for Weiss myself, was because even though I liked Weiss, she is my friend first and foremost so I wanted her to be happy, and if she feels happiest with Neptune than what I want to do is help her."

"Which is great that you care for her, and are doing more of what you want," Mori replied with annoyed tone, "But that still doesn't answer the question of how did that lead up to me walking in on you in a dress and also kissing Pyrrha, speaking of which where is Pyrrha?"

…oh, Pyrrha left a long time ago in embarrassment of being caught.

But looks like he still needed to address that, Jaune was hoping an elaborate story would get him off his back but looks like that was still very much in his mind.

**One hour ago**

Jaune could only watch in pride at his work as he watched Neptune go over to Weiss and see the heiress's frown turn into a smile.

Crap, what was he thinking, he probably sunk his own chances.

That thought disappeared as he once more took a look over at the girl's smile, oh well, he had more important things to worry about.

There was one more smile he needed to make happen.

Jaune went to get ready for that.

He still couldn't believe that his partner Pyrrha didn't get asked and was by herself for this dance, something about those words were just not right.

Jaune could still hear Pyrrha's sad words to him echo through his head as he went to go grab the necessary equipment.

" _I've been blessed with incredible talents and opportunities. I'm constantly surrounded by love and praise, but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place."_

Hearing Pyrrha say that made Jaune realize that even though Pyrrha was his partner, she had her own problems, but she kept silent about them all the time while patiently listening to his.

_Everyone assumes I'm too good for them. That I'm on a level they simply can't attain. It's become impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people. That's what I like about you. When we met, you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else…"_

He didn't think it was that special that he treated Pyrrha like normal. It was only from his catastrophic knowledge of the world outside of Ansel that he didn't know who Pyrrha was, if he was trained and raised like all his other friends, he was sure he would've known who Pyrrha was.

"… _I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me."_

…those last words especially hit Jaune's heart, she specifically wanted to be at the dance with him. Jaune Arc! A faker who didn't belong at this school. Someone as amazing as Pyrrha would rather have him as her partner over literally anyone else.

He'd better live up to those expectations.

It took him a couple of minutes, but he finally got what he needed.

He could hear the sounds of laughter as he walked through the dance floor, he didn't really care though.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha gasped, "What are you doing?"

"Remember how I bet I would wear a dress to the dance if you didn't have a date?" Jaune replied with a sheepish smile, "I lost that bet."

It took him a bit to find his old dress that his sisters forced him to wear, but he found it, it was a lot tighter than he remembered though.

"You didn't have to do that," Pyrrha said trying to stifle her laughter.

"Ehh, an Arc never breaks his word," Jaune replied, "Now, may I have this dance," He asked sticking his hand out.

"You may," Pyrrha smiled as she took.

Those next moments were the best moments Jaune had ever had as he danced with his partner, no care for those laughing at him in his dress.

Finally taking a break Jaune and Pyrrha went outside laughing and joking with each other.

"That was so much fun Jaune," Pyrrha exclaimed happily.

"It really was, though it is a bit chilly right now," Jaune replied as he sat down trying to warm him up.

"I don't think the dress is helping," Pyrrha commented.

"No, no it is not."

"So, what made you want to do that?" Pyrrha asked as she sat down next to Jaune.

"It's because I wanted to."

"Really," Pyrrha said in a disbelieving tone.

"Yeah, really."

A moment of silence filled the air as the two looked up at the night sky.

"Hey, Pyrrha?"

"Yes, Jaune?"

"Why me?"

"Jaune, I told you, it's because you treat me like an actual person, and not as the invincible girl."

"No, I get that, but of all our friends why did you want to go to the dance with me?"

This was a question that had been bugging him, even though he treated Pyrrha like normal, he wasn't the only one, Mori and Ren also treated Pyrrha like an equal.

"Well… Ren is taken by Nora for one… and Mori is away on his mission."

What Pyrrha said made sense…but something about the way she responded made him think there was more.

"That's not the full answer is it," Jaune replied with a serious tone.

"…No…" She admitted as she turned her head away with a blush.

"May…may I ask…what it is?"  
"I…I don't know if I should," Pyrrha replied, "I feel like if I tell you the actual reason…you may not treat me the same or even hate me."

"Pyrrha, you have done so, so, so much for me, there's no way I could ever hate you."

"Are you sure?"

"Look me in the eyes and tell me if you think am lying."

Her green eyes met his blue ones as they both stared at each other.

Jaune truly meant it, he would not be where he was at right now with Pyrrha, he could never repay the debt that he owed her.

"The…the reason I wanted you at the dance over Mori and Ren is…is…is because I really like you!" Pyrrha said finally blurting out her reason.

Jaune could only stare in shock at his partner who was visibly flustered.

He had to admit it was very cute.

There were so many thoughts running through his head…like why? How? But there was one thought that seemed to control him. What did he want to do right now?

It was an easy question to answer.

"Jaune, you don't hate me …right?" Pyrrha bashfully asked as she looked from the ground.

"Here's my answer," Jaune replied as he grabbed Pyrrha by her shoulders and suddenly gave her a kiss.

Pyrrha immediately reciprocated as she grabbed his shoulders.

It felt like an eternity and Jaune wished it would end.

"Hey Jaune, Pyrrha I'm Bac—Woah!"

Jaune and Pyrrha quickly separated at the sound of someone interrupting them.

It was Mori.

"…I think I should go and come back at a different time."

As Pyrrha quickly left the premise her face as red as her hair, Jaune could only glare at his close friend and curse his shitty timing.

**Present**

"So, that's how that happened," Jaune said as he finished his story, "and how you interrupted a very tender moment."

"Look, I'm sorry man," Mori cried, "I just saw that you two were over there chatting and wanted to say hi because it's been days."

"…It's fine, I'm over it how was the mission?"

"It was—" Mori started.

"You!" A voice cried out interrupting him, "I have a bone to pick with you!

Mori and Jaune looked over to see Yang with red eyes… yeah, Jaune wasn't dealing with that.

"Well good luck with that," Jaune commented as he gave Mori a quick pat on the back and a swift exit.

"Wait, don't leave me!"

"We are going to have a talk Mister!"

* * *

There was a lot of crap that Yang had to deal with her team so far in the second semester, Blake's single-minded obsession with the White Fang was one, thankfully she got the girl to take a break and go to the dance.

The other one was Ruby.

On the outside she seemed fine, maintaining her cheerful personality, on the inside though…she had been less enthusiastic to do stuff and at night she spent most of her time before bed going over the martial arts that Mori was teaching her.

Speaking of Mori… She had a bone to pick with him.

She wanted to smack him when she heard he rejected Ruby's offer to be punchbowl buddies, but then when he said it was for a mission she calmed down, then that urge to smack him came back with a vengeance when she heard his reason for wanting to go.

Yang herself really didn't mind his reason for going so he could get stronger, it was a bit selfish sure but, she had heard worse reasons like money and fame.

Ruby on the other hand took it a bit worse, even though she didn't say it.

Which was the real reason why she was mad at him.

HE'S THE REASON WHY RUBY WAS IN HER FUNK.

NO ONE made her sister sad without paying for it.

So yeah, she had a bone to pick with him right now.

An awkward silence filled the air between the two as Yang glared at the target of her ire.

He was currently in a suit that for some reason just did not feel right on him.

"…So…how has the dance been going so far," Mori meekly asked looking to the side.

"It's been good," Yang frostily replied, " _We've_ been having fun," Yang finished replied with some extra emphasis on the We part.

"That's good…" Mori responded, shuffling his feet and looking down in guilt, "You look pretty in that dress."

Of course, she did, she looked pretty in everything, flattery though wasn't going to help him get out of this one.

"So, do you have anything to say?" Yang curtly asked.

"…I'm sorry?"

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm going to be honest, I'm not quite sure."

Yang could only sigh in exasperation, of course, he didn't understand.

"Mori, do you know how Ruby's been this week?"

"…No, not really?"

"She has been feeling really down."

"Just because I said I couldn't go to the dance with her?"

Yang sighed, "Mori, it's a bit more complicated than that…sit down."

The boy complied as he grabbed a chair.

"You know how our family consists of just me, my dad and Ruby right."

The boy nodded.

"Have you ever wondered why Ruby and I look so different?"

"Kind of, but I thought it was best to leave that alone."

"Well, the truth is Ruby, and I are only half-sisters, my birth Mom left me when I was born."

"…I'm sorry about that,"

"You don't need to apologize, that's not the part I want to talk about, I want to talk about my actual Mom, the one who gave birth to Ruby, Summer Rose."

"Is she the one with the white cape in your family photos?"

"Yup, she was awesome, a Super Mom, the kindest person who made the best cookies that and she was an awesome Huntress…she was Ruby's…no she was our hero."

Mori patiently looked as he waited for Yang to finish.

"One day, she just left on a mission and well…she never returned… it took a long time for our family to recover from that."

"You guys must have been very strong to overcome that," Mori sincerely replied.

Yang smiled, "Thank you, but the reason I'm telling you this is, remember how I told you how Mom was our hero?"

Mori nodded.

"Ruby all her life has wanted to be like Mom, an awesome hero who saves everyone, too her there was no one more amazing in this world…well until now."

Mori tilted his head in question, "I can't imagine there'd be someone she'd look up to as much as your Mom…who is it?"

"He's sitting right in front of me."

"Wait!" Mori shouted in shock, "Me?"

Yang nodded, "Yup… you, a random boy that she had only known for less than a year had become as much of a hero to Ruby as our Mom."

"But… why?" Mori questioned, "She's known plenty of strong people, heck even your Uncle Qrow would probably be a better example."

With his love of the bottle, Yang highly doubted that.

Yang shrugged, "I'm not sure why, it's just a Ruby thing, but to her, you are an amazing person who she now wants to emulate."

"I…I…I'm not as amazing as she thinks," Mori replied looking down sadly at the ground.

"Well that doesn't matter, the real reason why Ruby's been acting down is that you have been acting a lot like our mother before she disappeared."

"…What?"

"She doesn't notice it as much because she was too young when Summer left us so it's more of a feeling to her, but I see it."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Before she disappeared…Mom started to become too busy with missions, she always promised us that she'd be home quickly, and return home weeks later." Yang explained, "It seemed like being a Huntresses was all that she was doing and eventually…it consumed her."

"Yang I only left on one mission that doesn't mean I'm going to be going on missions all the time."

Yang sighed again holding the bridge of her nose.

"Yes, it was only one mission, but that's not what I'm talking about …you have something that you focus on above all else…Mori all you've cared about lately is getting stronger…and Ruby and me…well I guess everyone is concerned that your pursuit is only going to consume you…that it will take you away from us like how Summer got taken away."

"So… the reason why Ruby is feeling down is she feels like I'm going to disappear?"

Yang nodded.

Ruby was worried that he would abandon them just like how her own mom abandoned her when she was born.

"I…I'm not sure how to respond to that." He said while thinking about it"…I guess I am sorry for worrying you guys so much."

"Hey, me personally I like your attitude towards training, but I do think you should tone it down a bit, spend some time with us…you know people that care for you."

"I guess I should talk with Ruby huh?" He said rubbing his head in embarrassment, "Where she is?"

Yang looked around, ohhh that girl ditched, she was going to pay for that with some comic books confiscated.

"I don't know, she may be back in our room, though if I had to take a guess, I'd say check out your spot on the rooftop…she's been hanging out around there a lot."

"Ok, well I better go to her."

"Yup."

Just as Mori left Yang called out.

"Hey, Mori."

There was one more thing she needed to comment on.

"Yeah?" He asked turning around before leaving.

"That Monkey suit really doesn't fit you."

Mori paled with a sour look on his face.

"Yang…please never make that pun again." He begged.

…Pun? What Pun?

* * *

"And was that all you saw Miss?"

Ruby nodded as she finished explaining her story to General Ironwood from Atlas.

"Yup, I was just minding my own business just at the punch bowl when all of a sudden I saw this masked lady sneak into the CCT, I then decided to grab Crescent Rose and ended up fighting her inside the tower."

"…Your story checks out with the footage…That was very brave for you to do that young lady."

"Oh it's nothing just trying to do the right thing," Ruby then looked in concern over at the pile of unconscious guards "Are they ok?"

"They should be fine Miss Rose; at worst they will have a massive headache when they wake up."

"Oh, ok" Ruby responded, "Would you like my help in trying to find the intruder?"

"Oh no, you should be fine," The General replied with a smile, "My men should be able to track her down…why don't you go on back and enjoy yourself at the dance."

Ruby nodded as she made her way out of the CCT.

Instead of heading back to the Beacon Dance, she instead decided to just head back to her room.

She really wasn't feeling dancy and all that... Now, where did she fling those blasted lady stilts?

Finding her shoes, instead of subjecting herself back to their nefarious clutches, she decided to just go barefoot as she made her way back to her room.

The dance had been…fun, outside of her dying feet, it was good to see Blake finally relax, and Jaune was able to help Weiss as well. That was nice of him, he could have been the one to comfort Weiss but instead he got Neptune to do it.

A couple of minutes of walking later she finally reached the dorms, instead of going to bed though she instead decided to throw her shoes in the corner and head to the rooftop.

She wasn't feeling that tired.

Reaching her destination Ruby took a deep breath and started to go over the Renewal forms that Mori had been teaching her.

…She really missed him, it had only been a few days but still…

She didn't mind as much when he couldn't be her punchbowl buddy, that sinking feeling she had disappeared when he explained it was because he was going on a mission.

That was so cool! He was only a freshman and he was already going on Second Year Missions.

His reason for going, however…

There was something about it that bugged her…it sounded selfish, but…that didn't really fit who Mori was.

Still, without Mori here, life had been…normal, no pissed of Goodwitch, no pranked Weiss, No amazing feats that defied human logic…everything just made sense.

She had been so used to the strange that accompanied Mori that normal just felt…empty.

Sometimes it felt like he never existed like it was right that he was not here.

She really hated that feeling.

She hoped this feeling would never become permanent.

These last few days it felt like her only connection to him had been practicing renewal taekwondo.

It was the only enjoyable time for her lately, and it was also the closest she felt to him, sometimes she'd even feel like he was right there teaching her and correcting her.

It was the only time those feelings of normal were gone…and that felt right.

After going through her stances Ruby noticed how late it was.

" _One more run-through,"_ She thought to herself.

Getting into a stance Ruby decided to start with the most basic of the Renewal Techniques…the Round Kick.

"Your foot is too far back Ruby,"

Oh, there it was again, his whisperings of what she was doing wrong…though it seemed easier to hear…louder as well...wait…

Ruby quickly spun around as she realized that it wasn't whispers talking to her…IT WAS THE REAL THING!

"MORI!" Ruby shouted as she dove for a hug.

"Oof," Mori shouted as he collapsed to the ground.

"How long have you been back!" Ruby asked as she looked at him.

"I just got back about an hour ago, where were you? I tried to look for you at the dance hall, but you weren't there…by the way, I'd hide your comic books because Yang was muttering something about confiscating them."

Oh biscuits, Yang was not going to be happy that she ditched.

"I'm sorry," Ruby whined "I was off being an awesome huntress."

"…You got into trouble again didn't you?"

"No!" Ruby replied angrily with a pout, "…Well, I didn't start it."

"I highly doubt that."

"It's true," Ruby whined again, "I saw someone trying to sneak in the CCT and I had to stop them."

"Did you?"

"…I think, the guards are ok, and nothing appeared to be stolen."

"Well then," Mori responded with a smile, "Good job," He then gave her a pat to the head…it felt nice.

"So, how did the mission go?" Ruby asked, "Tell me everything!"

"Well…"

And with that, Mori recapped his story, Ruby's heart couldn't help but ache when she heard that Team CYSM were too late to save Lower Cairn, but when he described the rescue efforts it started to rise again, and then when she heard about his fight against that Grimm horde, it was like she was hearing a fairy tale from her childhood again."

"Mori that's so awesome!" She yelled, "You are like a fairy tale hero!"

At that, Mori gave a sad smile as he looked to the ground.

"Ruby…I'm not as amazing as you think…"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, "You were able to save everyone!"

There was something off with him, there was one part of the story that seemed to really affect him…the part with the Grey family.

"Mori?" Ruby asked, "Are you ok? I noticed that something about saving the Grey family seemed to bug you."

At that Mori chuckled, "I don't know how you do it, but you just have a way of being nosy and hitting the nail on the head, don't you?"

"Hey!" Ruby shouted as she pouted again, "Would you like to talk about it?" she said as her face softened.

"So, do you remember how I mentioned during the story that the Grey family's father was almost killed by an Ursa?"

Ruby nodded, "You were able to save him, though right?"

"…Yeah, I was…it was just…right as he was able to be eaten…his kids shouted in terror as they were about to watch him die, and…"

Ruby stayed silent as she waited for him to continue.

"…Ruby, there's only one feeling worse than having someone you love die …and that's watching someone you love die while you are unable…when you are powerless to stop it…Seeing those kids cry out for their dad…being unable to save him…"

Ruby's heart broke as she listened to Mori's feelings, she had an idea what he was talking about and it wasn't about the Grey family…it was his Grandfather.

She thought she knew how Mori felt when he mentioned losing him…after all, she knew the pain of losing a loved one as well.

But…it was so much worse for him, while Ruby's Mom never returned, Mori had to watch his Grandpa disappear in front of him.

She never knew about that part and she wasn't quite sure what she could do to help him.

Ruby wrapped her arms around her friend, in hopes that the warmth of a hug could make him feel better.

"I…I never knew," Ruby whispered as she let go, "It must have felt like you were reliving it."

"Ruby…I'm… I'm not as strong as you think I am…I…I…I can't save anyone that I care about."

Hearing that from him everything made sense, the look of worry on his face, his frantic urge to get stronger, the hours he spent on his craft, he didn't want to get stronger just for the fun of it.

"Who are you worried about losing now?" She asked as she looked him in the eyes.

"You…Yang, Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha, Jaune, Ren, Nora," He replied listing off the names of all their friends, "I'm worried that I'm not strong enough…that I will fail…that I will lose everything…again."

Ruby wasn't quite sure what she could say to him, she couldn't really say that he doesn't have to worry about losing them, being Huntsmen their lives were always in danger.

"Mori," Ruby whispered, "Thank you."

"…for what? All I've done is ditch you guys and make you feel worried about me."

She once again gave him another hug.

"Thank you for caring about us so much, that you would sacrifice your own time and health just to protect us."

It felt like an eternity before he spoke up again.

"I think I'm feeling better now Ruby, you could let go."

Releasing him from her hold she looked at him one more time to make sure he was ok.

"^You know Mori, I'm not sure if this helps, but to the Grey family you are probably the greatest hero ever to them…you are the reason that they can still be together."

It seemed like Ruby's words of encouragement seemed to work as Mori gave a small smile.

"Thanks, Rubes," He whispered before suddenly changing the subject, "By the way your Renewal Taekwondo is looking a lot better."

"Really!" Ruby excitedly replied with a huge smile, "I've been working hard on these forms trying to get them right."

"Yeah, it looks a lot cleaner and you look more comfortable with it." He said while smiling back.

The smile shared between the two stretched into a slightly awkward silence. Ruby instinctively trying to reach for her cloak to wrap herself in while Mori averted his eyes and scratched the side of his nose.

"Soooo..." The taller boy began, "Do you wanna practice together?"

Ruby nodded.

A minute after they started training Mori spoke up again,

"You know this reminds me of something."

"Yeah?"

"Anytime me and my grandpa were separated for long periods of time whenever we meet up again, we had a habit of using our renewal taekwondo techniques to recognize each other."

"that's weird Mori…you're weird."

"I don't want to hear that from the cookie addict."

They both chuckled as they finished ribbing each other.

"…Can I learn it?" Ruby asked after they finished laughing, "Learn how you and your Grandpa greeted each other."

Mori was silent as he thought about it.

"If you want to," He replied. "Here's how it goes," he said as he started to show Ruby his greeting."

Ruby followed suit as she attempted to copy Mori's moves.

It was a little hard at first, but she started to get a hang of it a couple of minutes in.

She'd lift her leg to strike as he raised his knee to block, then when he would kick with his other leg she would respond with her own block."

Standing still in just one spot, they went through kick after kick, strike after strike.

Once Mori was satisfied at their current speed, he would shift it to another level.

Faster and faster Ruby responded to Mori's movements as it started to become more natural to her.

Eventually, everything started to become a blur as she was able to respond to Mori's kicks and strikes with her own with ease.

As they continued, Ruby couldn't help but notice that their practice felt like a dance underneath the moonlight.

" _Hmm, I wonder if this is what Professor Ozpin meant by saying dancing is just like combat."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked the chapter!  
> Beta'd   
> Eliad91  
> Woof28  
> Patrician Lurker


	19. Chapter 19: The Day After

* * *

The day after he got back so far had been uneventful for Mori.

The only real thing of note was that Taiyang sent over Mori's greatest enemy.

No, it was not the Fox, the King, or any of the Gods.

It was that cursed dog known as Zwei.

From the moment he woke up on remnant Mori hated that thing and his feelings only seemed to be mutual from the beast's end.

Thankfully when he left for Beacon he didn't need to worry about the damn thing.

…But then Ruby invited him over for their semester break.

Those first few days were…eventful.

He couldn't stand being in the same room with Zwei and the dog felt the same.

But, after the first few fights, Ruby sat both him and Zwei down, scolded them for fighting, and made them promise to her that they would get along.

So that was the end of their fight…of the physical kind anyways.

The war now had become subtle.

Zwei would shit in his shoes, Mori would eat the dog's breakfast.

Zwei would tear up Mori's clothes, Mori "accidentally" shaved his back.

Each of them trying to find ways to one-up each other.

Mori was pretty sure he had the winning record by the time he returned to Beacon.

He hoped he would never see that damn mutt again.

Sadly, that did not happen as when he went to see Team RWBY off before they went on their first-year mission in Mt. Glenn, Taiyang sent Zwei in the mail, how that dog fit in a package Mori did not know. But that just confirmed to Mori that the dog was an unholy unnatural thing, Blake seemed to agree with him.

Other than that though, it had been a normal morning for Mori as he got caught up with the courses he was missing and was now sitting through Oz's Fairy tales and stories class.

Mori was not quite sure why this class was required.

It really had nothing to do with fighting Grimm.

All the class consisted of was stories.

No homework, no tests, Just Ozpin telling Stories to the class and asking questions about them.

That was fine with Mori as this was his best time to get mental training in.

Today, however, he decided to pay attention; while he had no real feelings for the class, Ruby, on the other hand, LOVED this class and asked him to pay attention for her.

The Warrior and The Apprentice was the name of today's story.

Apparently, this story was a really popular one in Remnant, especially among the boys as Jaune basically squeed when he heard Ozpin announce it.

Even Team CRDL was starting to pay attention.

The story started pretty basic as it began with a young boy leaving his village for a journey. Mori could only assume that this boy was the apprentice. He was a bit boring and sounded really whiney. However, when the Warrior part of the title made his appearance, Mori understood why the guys loved this story so much.

He was 100 percent awesome as the warrior was a certified badass who never lost a fight.

Saving the boy from a monster, the warrior took the boy in as an apprentice and trained him.

The story followed the adventures of the two as the warrior would defeat enemy after enemy.

The climax of the story included the Apprentice becoming a great warrior himself and the Warrior single-handedly destroying an enemy that was threatening their homeland and ended with the apprentice and the Warrior going their separate ways.

"So, what can we learn from this story?" Professor Ozpin asked as he started to wrap up the lesson, "Yes Mr. Arc."

"That the warrior is completely awesome!"

All the guys in the room nodded at that.

"Yes Mr. Arc, the warrior is awesome, however, is there anything else we can take." Professor Ozpin replied with a chuckle.

"That the Warriors strength was the reason why anything was done." One of the girls from Shade answered.

"That indeed is something else we can take, without the warrior's strength the story would have ended rather quickly."

Pyrrha then raised her hand.

"Miss Nikos?"

"I believe another thing we can take from this story is that one has to be tenacious for their goals."

"That's an interesting thought there Miss Nikos, is there anyone that could maybe elaborate on what she means.."

"Everyone loves the story for the warrior but the person who moves the story along is the young apprentice," Ren explained as he raised his hand, "if he didn't beg the warrior to take him under his wing than he wouldn't have become as great a warrior as he was at the end of the story and the warrior may not have been there at the end to save the day."

"Hmm that is an interesting thought Mr. Ren, so does that mean that it's actually the apprentice who is the hero of this story?

"I'd think both are heroes of the story Professor, the apprentice makes the story happen while the warrior is the one who solves every problem, the story doesn't have a happy ending without either." Nora spoke up, "The apprentice didn't really do much fighting himself and was really weak, but he still inspired the warrior to fight in the end."

Mori really liked Nora's answer, despite people thinking Nora was an airhead she really was good at understanding the deeper parts of these stories.

"That is quite the excellent analysis Miss Valkyrie," Ozpin said as he closed his book, "When most people hear the story of the warrior and the apprentice their thoughts go into the as Mr. Arc put it 'awesomeness' of the warrior, but not into how much the apprentice influenced his master to do his deeds."

"So the lesson of the story is…try?" Jaune asked with a confused look.

Ozpin chuckled at that.

"You are on the right track, Mr. Arc." Ozpin replied, "My students if I can have you gain anything from this story is that you must be tenacious in your goals, if you do, good things will come from them...either from yourself or someone you have influenced."

The professor dismissed the class as his eyes lingered on Mori.

Mori just ignored it as Ozpin had a habit of staring at him anyway.

Gathering his stuff, he left the room ready to do some more training.

"Well, that was a pretty cool lesson." A voice next to him commented as Mori made his way down the hallway.

It was a grey-haired teen around his age that was well built. If Mori recalled correctly it was one of the students from Haven Academy…what was his name Michael…Matthew…Mercedes…Merlin?

"The names Mercury," The boy replied as he seemed to figure out Mori was struggling with his name, "Mercury Black, and you are Jin Mori, right?"

Mori nodded.

"It was a very fun story," Mori replied as he commented on the boy's earlier statement, "I've never heard it before."

"Wait, really?" Mercury asked back, "Every boy knows about The Warrior and The Apprentice. The Warrior is like the go-to superhero growing up."

"My Grandfather had us mostly live in the mountains, and he wasn't much a story guy," Mori explained.

It technically was true; he did mostly live in the mountains while growing up…just not Remnants.

"Really?" Mercury asked with a shocked look, "isn't it pretty dangerous living in the wilderness on your own?"

"A little bit," Mori lied, "Thankfully, my grandfather taught me how to fight at a young age and for the most part we were able to take care of the Grimm."

He probably would have been fine even if they did live on Remnant.

"You use your legs right," Mercury asked, "That's cool I use my legs as well."

Mori looked over the boy…it made sense he had a strong core and…metal legs?

"Not many people do kicks as their main style," Mori replied, "At best it's mostly used as a secondary attack."

"Yeah, it's nice to see someone else who uses kicks."

"So, who taught you?" Mori asked.

A Tense silence seemed to fill the room before Mercury finally answered.

"My old man, I'm sort of like you in that I used to live in the wilderness as well."

Something about the way he responded made Mori feel like he shouldn't push further.

"…Well I have stuff to do, it's nice to meet you, Mercury," Mori said as he decided he'd rather train than deal with this awkward situation.

"…Yeah, it's nice to meet you, Mori," Mercury replied as his previous sour mood quickly disappeared, "You know, we should have a match sometime, just to see who's better at kicking."

And with that, the boy gave a small flick of the wrist and went on his way.

All Mori could do was think about the interaction he just had.

Mercury…was interesting, he seemed outgoing but at the same time withdrawn. It was cool to see another person who liked to use their feet. Like they talked about earlier, not many people used their feet and instead just used a weapon.

It would be interesting to fight against him one day…

Mori would definitely have to be careful fighting against him.

Mercury was hiding something, and that conversation seemed like it was more of a probing the enemy vs getting to know someone.

He would need to be cautious whenever he was around the guy now.

After all, letting down your guard around someone that was trained as an assassin was pretty stupid.

* * *

"Jaune, do you have a list of the things we need for our mission?" Pyrrha asked as they made their way downtown.

Jaune quickly checked his pockets making sure he didn't forget.

"Yup, I have it."

This time, Pyrrha insisted on going along with him to fetch their stuff.

It seemed like Mori had screwed up too many times to be trusted to.

"Do you remember where the dust shop that Nora likes is?" Jaune asked as he quickly looked over the list.

"I think so."

An awkward silence filled the streets between them as they made their way through downtown Vale.

Jaune really wished that Nora and Ren came along with him, but Ren said he had to finish some homework and Nora insisted she wanted to help him.

…which was weird cause Ren usually was on top of his schoolwork and Nora was the only one who usually got help from Ren.

It had only been a day since he kissed Pyrrha and the realization of what happened last night had hit him like a truck this morning.

He actually kissed a girl for the first time! And she liked him back!

The problem was…what now?

He wasn't quite sure how he should act around Pyrrha now and it seemed like Pyrrha felt the same.

Jaune could only curse his awkwardness, he had been raised around girls his entire life yet he didn't know how he should act around his…girlfriend?

Yeah, those words felt weird right now.

The only advice Jaune had ever gotten from Dad on how to deal with girls that weren't blood-related was how to woo them, he never told him the part of what to do after…well actually maybe his mother did and Jaune wasn't paying attention.

All-day he had been taking quick looks at his partner and just would ask himself…why him?

Jaune didn't consider himself that special, in fact out of his entire friend group Jaune considered himself the most normal one.

He wasn't a prodigy like Ruby, a thrillseeker like Yang, or a mysterious brooder like Blake.

He didn't really have Weiss's classiness, Ren's charm, Nora's energy, and he definitely did not have Mori's strength.

The possibility of Pyrrha liking him specifically had never really crossed his mind…now that he thought about it though a lot of her actions these past few months had made these past few months.

The blushing, her mannerisms when they were alone, the way she constantly supported him…HOW DID JAUNE MISS ALL THAT!

 _"Stupid, stupid,"_ Jaune thought to himself, _"I'm sorry mom, you raised an idiot."_

It really was a wonder someone as amazing as Pyrrha liked someone as normal as him.

Was it his semblance? Did his semblance just cause girls that were out of his league to just fall for him…no that wasn't it, as his interactions with Weiss proved that he had no such power.

Pyrrha said part of the reason that she wanted him to be her partner was that he didn't know who she was... so was that just it?

No, that didn't make sense, Mori had no idea who she was either, but she didn't show any romantic attraction to him.

What could it be?

"Jaune, Jaune!"

"Wha—"

Pyrrha's voice suddenly cut into Jaune's internal debate.

"Are you ok Jaune?" The redhead asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, sorry about that Pyr Iwas just thinking about…stuff, what were you asking?"

"I was asking did you need to get maintenance on Crocea Mors?"

Jaune took a look over at the family heirloom, it was a bit beat up especially with all the training he was doing on it.

"Yeah it does, I think all the training sessions are starting to take a toll on it."

"I know a good weaponsmith," Pyrrha nodded as she made her way to the shop.

Jaune just followed, still unsure of how he should act.

…What could he say to her?

Agh he was so dumb, why was he so pathetic, there was him just being unsure about what to do and then there was Pyrrha confidently walking down the streets looking in to shop windows.

…Looking? …shop windows?

Jaune looked inside the windows of the shops that Pyrrha was looking in…they were all clothing shops and not like huntsman clothing just cute fashion designer stuff…wait.

"Hey, Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted out trying to get the girl's attention.

"Yes, Jaune?"

"…Do you want to check out some of these shops?"

"Jaune, we have to get our stuff…we don't have time for that," Pyrrha replied in an annoyed tone.

"Come on Pyr," Jaune argued, "We don't have our mission for a while and it's not like we have anything else we need to do today."

Pyrrha looked hesitant as it seemed her sense of duty was conflicted with her desire to try out cute clothes.

"…I guess we can…but only one shop, then we need to gather our mission materials."

Finding a new place, the two entered a local boutique as Pyrrha tried out the different dresses, Jaune had to admit...they all looked good on her.

"You are surprising use to this Jaune," Pyrrha commented as she finished trying on a new outfit.

"Ehh I'm used to it," Jaune replied with a shrug, "Remember the only boy with seven sisters…As long as you're not dressing me up, I will be fine."

"I don't know about Jaune, you did look good in that dress yesterday," Pyrrha teased, "I think this would fit you perfectly." She commented as she took out a blue dress.

"Eeh, even though the blue fits my eyes it doesn't mix as well with my blond hair as much you would think."

"…What?"

"Pyr I wasn't joking about dressing me up, I've tried that dress on before."

"Jaune, I'm so sorry" She replied as she covered her mouth trying to stifle a laugh.

"It's fine, is there anything else you want to try on?"

"…I should be fine," Pyrrha said as she changed back to her regular clothes, "We should probably get back to our errands."

Jaune nodded as he grabbed some clothes that Pyrrha bought.

*growl*

A noise rang out as the two exited the boutique.

It was Jaune's stomach.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked once again stifling a laugh, "Are you hungry?"

The boy nodded in embarrassment; he hadn't really eaten all day.

"Do you want to get something to eat?"

Jaune once again nodded yes.

"I know a good spot around here," Pyrrha commented.

"It's not the Little Shade is it?" Jaune asked in concern, he had heard the rumors about the place.

"No, it's not the Little Shade," Pyrrha replied in exasperation, "Who would be dumb enough to eat at the Little Shade before a mission?"

The place that Pyrrha took him too was a nice café around the street. It had all sorts of delicious-looking food that looked really fancy.

"This place is really nice," Jaune commented, "Where did you find it."

"It's a place that Weiss recommended," Pyrrha explained, "Me and Nora went here with Team RWBY a couple of weeks back, you know the boys aren't the only ones who are allowed to have fun."

"There was no such thing as a boy's night," Jaune replied on instinct, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

His response elicited another laugh from Pyrrha.

An hour passed as they ate their food and chatted about normal stuff, how they were doing in class, what the food was like back in mistral and he even learned more about Pyrrha's family.

Unlike him, she was an only child.

Jaune couldn't help but feel jealous, an only child… that meant she had her own bedroom to herself.

Once they were done Jaune paid the bill and they went on their way once again on their quest to get Nora's dust.

…or so they thought until they passed an arcade.

Jaune caught Pyrrha's eyes as she looked at the place.

"Do you want to go in there?"

Pyrrha quickly snapped her eyes back, in front of her.

"No, I've never really been in one of those before." The girl admitted, "I was just wondering what it was like."

Jaune could only gasp, Pyrrha had never been in an arcade?

He needed to rectify that.

"Come on," he said as he grabbed her hand, "Let's fix that problem."

"Jaune it's fine," Pyrrha whined, "It was just something I noticed, we need to get our stuff."

Jaune didn't care, there was a gross injustice that he needed to fix.

"…So how does this work Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she looked at the toy gun in her hand.

"It's simple you aim at the monsters at the scream and shoot." Jaune explained, "Like this."

He then showed her how the arcade game worked.

It took Pyrrha a while, but she suddenly got used to it. It wasn't too long before she started crushing Jaune in their game.

"I think that's enough," Jaune commented after his 6th straight loss, "Let's try something new.

The next game Jaune tried out with her was air hockey.

Once again, after a couple of rounds of getting used to the rules, Pyrrha started to crush him.

"Ok, let's try racing next!" Jaune said as he got skunked on their last game.

To no avail, Pyrrha started to crush him in that as well.

Aggh Jaune needed a way to salvage his pride, Pyrrha was kicking his butt in everything.

Taking a look around for something he found what he was looking for…it was a dance simulator. There was only one person who could rival Jaune in dance and he was finishing up homework…supposedly.

Surprisingly Pyrrha was keeping up with him on this one, Jaune gritted his teeth in determination, even though Pyrrha was the amazing invincible girl he would not lose in dance.

"Aggh so close," Pyrrha complained after their last round, "One more time."

Jaune was about to accept the challenger's futile attempts to unseat when all of a sudden voice spoke out.

"Hey, isn't that Pyrrha Nikos?"

"Wait, really where?"

"Do you think I can get an autograph from her?"

"Who's that guy with her?"

Jaune could feel all the attention in the arcade suddenly appear on the two of them...or more specifically on Pyrrha.

He could feel the walls on her suddenly start to build up.

"Come on," Jaune said as he grabbed her hand, "Let's go."

And with that, the two quickly ran out of the arcade before a large crowd could form.

A couple of minutes of them running passed when they finally lost the crowd.

"Sor-sorry about that," Jaune said after catching his breath.

"For what?" Pyrrha asked after she caught hers, "That was some of the most fun I've had in a long time."

"I know you mentioned how you don't like it how people worship you," He replied, "So I apologize for putting you in that spot."

"Jaune," Pyrrha replied with a sad smile, "I'm used to it, it's something I have had to deal with my entire life."

"Well you shouldn't"

Silence filled the air Jaune's bold declaration as Pyrrha started to blush once more.

Jaune couldn't help but feel she looked really cute while doing that.

Why oh why did a girl like her fall for him.

He needed to know.

"Hey, Pyrrha?"

"Yes, Jaune?"

"Why me?"

"…Jaune I told you already yesterday at the dance."

"No, what I mean is…why do you like me specifically?" Jaune clarified "Out of everyone I'm the most normal, the least talented…the weakest. I don't have anything that would make me stand out…and I know you said it's because you treat you normal and I didn't know who you were, but…Mori was in the same circumstances, and he is way more amazing than me."

Pyrrha was silent as she digested Jaune's words.

"It would make sense," Pyrrha replied, "The strongest invincible girl being paired with the unstoppable monster."

Jaune only nodded, they seemed like a good fit, Pyrrha was strong, Mori was strong, Pyrrha seemed to like a good fight, Mori liked to battle…why wouldn't they be a good fit?

"I'm going to be honest with you" Pyrrha said, "At the start of initiation there were only two people I wanted as my partner…you and Mori, for the reasons you said before."

Jaune could feel his heart drop, so…t was just luck that Pyrrha liked him over his friend…that was kind of dumb.

"Despite that," Pyrrha commented before Jaune could say a word, "I'd still probably love you even if I ended up as Mori's partner."

"Wha-why?" Jaune stammered, "That makes no sense."

"Mori is a good person and a good friend," Pyrrha clarified, "…But the good qualities he has…aren't something that attracts me."

"So, what do I have?" Jaune asked, "I'm just normal, not special Jaune."

"You act like normal is a bad thing," Pyrrha replied, "Jaune when you've been to the places I've been…you start to crave normal."

So, Pyrrha liked him because he was…normal?

"And I don't know what makes you say you aren't special."

"What do you mean by that?" Jaune asked, "compared to everyone else I'm useless, I wasn't even trained before Beacon."

"Exactly," Pyrrha said, "You were untrained, lacking skill and experience and the only way you were able to make it into Beacon was lying."

Jaune could only wince at his past actions.

"Yet, despite all that, you persevered, it didn't matter the challenge you faced, you continued to hit your challenges headlong with courage."

"You could call it stupidity."

Pyrrha laughed at that.

"Yes, you could call it stupidity, but I believe it was courage that allowed you to do those things," Pyrrha commented, "And that courage of yours comes from your good heart."

Jaune was speechless, he had never anyone compliment like this before.

"Jaune, you may consider yourself normal and boring…but the reason I love you is that I love how good of a person you are."

"I love how you are willing to learn even though you are so far behind."

"I love your kindness towards not only me but the rest of our friends."

"I love your courage in facing hard tasks.":

"I love your deep desire to help people."

"Pyrrha stop," Jaune said covering his face, "This is making me super-embarrassed, I don't think any of what you said actually applies to me."

Pyrrha suddenly brought his hands down.

"But what I am saying is true, you are all of those" She replied.

Then suddenly without notice, Pyrrha kissed him, like the day before it was one of the most amazing experiences Jaune had ever had.

Like before it felt like an eternity before they separated.

…it probably helped there was no brunette asshole who would interrupt them.

"Jaune Arc, I love you for you nothing else." She said as they separated, "Does that answer your question?"

Jaune nodded.

"…So, what should I do?" Jaune asked in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean since we are together together, what should I do?" Jaune clarified, "Do I need to open the door for you, make you breakfast in bed, call you m'lady?"

Pyrrha laughed at that.

"No, Jaune, all you need to do is just treat me like normal, like how you treated me today."

"Oh, like normal…easy enough."

"Yes, it is."

"…We should probably get back, it's getting late," Jaune commented as he looked at his scroll

"Yes we should," Pyrrha agreed.

As they started to make their way back, a thought came into Jaune's mind that he really wanted to do.

"Hey, Pyrrha?"

"Yes, Jaune?"

"I don't think I could treat you like totally normal."

"…what do you mean by that," Pyrrha asked in apprehension.

"I mean if I treated you like normal, I don't think I would be able to hold your hand," He commented as he grabbed her hand.

Pyrrha blushed from that.

"I guess that is true."

Walking back hand in hand with Pyrrha was up there in the best moments of Jaune's life.

Everything felt right in the world…though Jaune couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something.

"Hey, you guys are back," Nora commented as they entered the room, "Did you get my dust?"

Pyrrha groaned as Jaune hit his hand against his head.

They forgot the dust!

* * *

Ruby couldn't sleep, she had just finished her turn on night watch and was just laying in bed trying to get some rest.

Her first mission had so far been uneventful, they were investigating Mt. Glenn as it was a possible location of a White Fang base.

It really was a sad place to her, seeing all the abandoned buildings and thinking about the lives lost.

Dr. Oobleck's comments about why he was a huntsman really brought a new perspective on her teacher that she never thought of before.

She always thought he was a bit of a boring teacher, but his words on learning from the past to get stronger made a lot of sense.

Dr. Oobleck really showed his experience today, from his being able to analyze Grimm movements to showing his combat ability and also putting them in the best spots to succeed.

If it was Ruby herself she would have just destroyed all the Grimm and be done with it.

Despite his…eccentricities he was definitely a top huntsman.

This was a great opportunity to see a trained Huntsman in action and try to learn from.

A rustle suddenly interrupted Ruby's thoughts as she looked and realized Zwei was leaving all of a sudden.

"Zwei, where are you going?"

Ignoring her, the dog continued his journey outside.

Ruby quickly grabbed Crescent Rose and followed the dog outside.

Zwei technically wasn't supposed to be here with them…but what could Ruby do?

She couldn't leave him with JNPR because they were going on a mission soon.

She would have asked Mori to watch him but…to say those two didn't get along was an understatement.

She made them promise to each other not to fight anymore, but all that did was stop the physical fighting.

She knew about their cold war that was going on…After all, Zwei ate her homework on accident thinking it was Mori's and Mori hid Zwei's food in Ruby's closet once.

If she left those two alone, she'd come back to Mori needing a new wardrobe and Zwei looking like a Siamese cat.

So really the only sensible option was to bring him with her. After all, she couldn't leave the poor guy alone.

All she had to was make sure he did not get discovered…that attempt ended rather quickly once the mission began.

Surprisingly, Dr. Oobleck did not chew her out, instead, he praised her genius for bringing along the family pet.

That's right, Ruby Rose was a genius for bringing Zwei…she totally did that on purpose.

Her genius was being tested when she finally caught up to the dog urinating over a pillar.

"Really Zwei," Ruby whined, "You came all the way here to use the bathroom?"

"Arf!"

"What was that?"

A voice Ruby did not recognize suddenly broke through the dark.

Quickly grabbing her dog, Ruby immediately hid behind cover, trying to decide if the voice was a friend or foe.

"What was what?" Another voice Ruby did not recognize asked.

"…I thought I heard a Beowolf or something," The first voice responded.

"Hmph, let's just finish our patrol, this place gives me the creeps."

The unknown voices were White Fang members!

She had located their objective.

Zwei was such a good boy for finding them.

Should she apprehend them now?

No, attacking them now alone was reckless, and who knows how many other White Fang were out there right now.

Should she just go back and tell her team that she found them?

No, there was no guarantee that these guards would still here by the time she got her team...

Her best option for now was to follow them, like how Dr. Oobleck had them follow the Beowolves this morning, Ruby would follow these guards, and hopefully, they would lead her back to the base.

Time for stealth Ruby to make her an appearance.

Being as quiet as possible Ruby and Zwei slowly followed the White Fang guards on their patrol.

Her decision soon reaped its rewards as the guards finally stopped at a big metal door.

"Zwei, are they gone?" Ruby whispered, "Bark once if they are."

"Arf!"

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as she took a look around her surroundings.

Ok, now to get her team and storm the base.

Grabbing her scroll she immediately attempted to dial Yang's number for backup.

Too bad she was greeted to the sight of low service.

Ah, biscuits, she'd have to go grab them herself.

"Come on, Zwei!" Ruby said, "Let's go get the others."

Too bad that plan got derailed as all of sudden as she was running down the streets, the ruined city's infrastructure suddenly failed her as a giant hole formed from where she was standing.

Falling down, Ruby quickly grabbed a nearby ledge before she fell further while also catching Zwei as well.

 _"Whew,"_ Ruby thought to herself, _"That was a close one."_

First throwing Zwei up to safety Ruby then prepared her own ascent up.

As if fate was screwing with her the ledge she was holding on to suddenly broke.

Activating her Aura Ruby braced herself for the fall.

***boom***

"Oww!" Ruby complained to herself.

Ruby took a look around, trying to assess her surroundings.

"Freeze!" A voice called out.

"Who are you and how did you get here!"

It was the White Fang guards that she was following earlier.

Ruby slowly started to back up.

"You are a long way from home little girl," The first guard commented.

Ruby reached behind her ready to activate Crescent Rose, ready for a battle.

…or she would have except it wasn't behind her.

Drat, it was still up on the surface.

"Now, we can do this easy way or the hard way."

She'd never been in a fight without Crescent Rose before, this was something that Ruby was not experienced with.

Should she just surrender or fight her way out to her team?

Taking a deep breath Ruby started to focus, making her decision on what to do.

"So, what will it be girly?"

**Renewal Taekwondo: Round Kick**

The basic kick of Renewal Taekwondo was Ruby's answer as she sent the guard careening into a wall.

Before the other guard could respond Ruby used the momentum of her first kick to then redirect herself as she threw a punch into the Faunus, sending him spewing onto the floor.

Immediately using her speed semblance Ruby started to run, trying to find an exit.

Alarms suddenly started blaring as the base was now aware of her intrusion.

"Where's the intruder!"

"There she is!"

Closing the distance with her speed she immediately used **Renewal Baekdu** kneeing one of the guards in the face.

Trying to counterattack the other guard immediately brought down his weapon in an attempt to knock Ruby out, Ruby dodged it with ease and hit the guard square in the head with another round kick.

Catching her breath Ruby took a look around her trying to find an exit from these long winding tunnels.

It was a good thing that she got Mori to teach her Renewal, she was useless in hand to hand combat before.

"I think she went this way!"

Whoops, looks like break time was over.

Looking around her, Ruby decided to go through the path that had some wind blowing through it.

Her choice had a mixed bag of results when she reached the end of the hallway, on one hand, she found the exit…on the other well… she was greeted to the sight of a room full of dust and white fang members.

"What are you doing here Red!" A voice cried out.

Finally, it was a familiar voice! ...too bad it wasn't friendly.

"Torchwick," Ruby responded with disdain.

"Of course, it's you," The villain complained, "For the last 10 minutes I've been getting reports of a little girl tearing up our base, and I think to myself, it couldn't be her… right? Turns out it is."

"I'm here to bring you in," Ruby declared, "And have you pay for your crimes."

"I'm sure you will," Torchwick sarcastically replied, "Boys, get her!"

The grunts in the room started to converge on Ruby, attempting to apprehend her.

Ruby started to worry, she had never fought this many people unarmed before.

Dang it, if she had Crescent Rose this would be so much easier.

_"Never think about what you don't have during a fight."_

Mori's voice suddenly started to ring in Ruby's head as if he was giving her advice during a training session.

_"Focus on what you have and what you could do with it."_

Ruby didn't have Crescent Rose, but she had her fists, her feet, her own training as a Huntress as well as Mori's hand-to-hand combat training, she could do it.

Backing herself to a wall, Ruby started to begin the fight of her life.

It would be a bad idea to charge straight into the enemy like Mori, she didn't have his skill or his awareness…instead, she would need them to come to her.

As one guard raised their weapon Ruby quickly dodged and knocked him out.

_"When fighting against a large group, try to make it as close to a one on one as much as possible."_

Continuing to position herself, Ruby fought off guard after guard with the punches and kicks she had learned.

_"Be aware of your surroundings, use them to your advantage."_

She needed to keep the right distance, too close and she'd get surrounded and subdued easily, too far and she'd be an easy target for their gun.

"I am getting some seriously bad déjà vu," Torchwick complained from the sideline.

Ruby ignored him as she continued to fight.

"You haven't learned how to blow up a harbor lately have you Red?"

The villain's quips had no effect on her as She continued to inch her way slowly to the exit.

She was close, so close to the exit, soon she'd be free and be able to run for back up.

"What is going on!" A voice shouted as the room suddenly froze.

Torchwick paled at the sight of the newcomer.

It was a red-haired man with horns wearing a white mask.

Every cell in Ruby's body screamed that this man was dangerous, that he was on a whole different level than the grunts she was fighting before.

"Nothing Adam, just dealing with a little rat." Torchwick quickly replied.

Ruby recognized that name, Adam Taurus, the feared enforcer of the White Fang!

"You've been dealing with a little rat for far too long," Adam replied, "I will deal with her."

A path opened up between them, as Adam walked towards her.

Ruby felt scared, even with Crescent Rose her instincts told her she would be outmatched, what should she do…what could she do. What would Yang do? …What would Mori do?

They would fight, they wouldn't care about the difference in strength, they would face their challenges bravely without fear…that's what she needed to.

Steeling herself Ruby took another deep breath, she needed to focus all her senses on this man.

Flying with her semblance she fired off a round kick, hoping to end the fight quickly before Adam could react.

Her attack did nothing as he blocked her kick with one hand.

Oh, biscuits she was in trouble.

In an instant, Ruby could suddenly feel her aura break as she went tumbling to the ground.

What was that? It was as if lightning struck her, he moved so fast she couldn't react.

Adam then started to walk towards her slowly pulling his blade out.

Ruby looked up in exhaustion, trembling at the figure before her.

There was such a vast difference between him and her… he treated her like she was just a fly on the wall, there was nothing she could do.

_"I'm sorry Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Pyrrha…Mori"_

The faces of her friends started to flash in her mind as she said her goodbye's to them in her heart.

_"Dad, I'm sorry, Yang I'm sorry."_

She didn't want to die, she wanted to see her friends one more time, spend one more minute with her family.

A white figure standing above a cliffside appeared in Ruby's mind.

_"Mom…I did good…right?"_

"Any last words?"

"…You will be stopped," Ruby defiantly replied, "I may not be able to stop you, but I know someone who will."

"…I look forward to meeting them then."

And with those words, Ruby closed her eyes ready to accept her fate.

"Wait!" A voice cried out just as she could feel the blade touch her skin.

"What!" Adam growled as he lifted his sword.

"We shouldn't kill her," Torchwck said as he rushed towards Ruby's side, "We already got her subdued and we can just throw her in the jail."

Ruby was stunned, why was Roman Torchwick of all people defending her?

He was like, the last person Ruby expected who would save her life.

"I see no reason why we should keep her alive."

"Well, see…" Torchwick started to stammer, "We could use her as bait!" He said as if the idea came to him.

"Bait?" Adam asked, "For what?"

"Bait for the problem you are here to deal with," Torchwick explained, "See, Red here is close to the pest you've been sent to eliminate, use her as bait to get the pest to come here instead of going to Vale and trying to find him."

Pest, what pest was Roman talking about?

She wasn't close to any pest.

"See she even has her, scroll," Roman said pulling Ruby's scroll from her pockets, "We give the pest a call and say we have his friend, and voila he's here!"

…Was Torchwick talking about Mori?

Adam thought about it before putting away his blade, "Fine, lock her up, but if she causes any problems it's your head."

Torchwick breathed a sigh of relief as soon as Adam left the room.

"Well," He said turning to a guard, "Tie her up."

The guard complied as he brought a rope to tie Ruby up with.

Ruby could only think in confusion of what just happened, Roman Torchwick of all people just saved her life.

"Why?" Ruby asked as the guard finished securing her.

"Hmm," Torchwick asked.

"Why did you save my life?" Ruby clarified, "We sort of are mortal enemies, you don't actually care…do you?"

"Oh Red," Torchwick laughed, "I couldn't give two shits about if you lived or died and in normal circumstances would be glad to see cow boy turn you into paste."

"So, why then?" Ruby challenged, "Why not just let me die?"

"Because Red," Torchwick responded as he put a cigar in his mouth lighting it, "There is one business I value keeping open at all times and that business is the business of staying alive and you being dead makes that business much, much harder."

"…What?"

Torchwick sighed, "Red, the only reason you are not dead is that I don't want that monster you call a boyfriend on my ass, if it wasn't for that, I'd be cleaning up your blood right now…happily."

"Ppfft, Mori?" Ruby asked incredulously, "You saved my life because you are scared of Mori?"

"Yes," Torchwick said without shame, "You may find it odd Red, but most people try to avoid pissing off the guy that blew up a harbor with a kick."

"Mori's really strong yeah, but he's a nice guy, he wouldn't kill you," Ruby said.

"…Are you sure about that Red?" Torchwick said as he took a huff of smoke, "I bet you see this knight in shining armor, who saves everyone and is a goody-two-shoes who can do no wrong?" He mockingly asked.

"Yes!"

"Of course, you do," Torchwick muttered, "Do you know what I see Red?" He asked turning towards her as he leaned on his cane.

Ruby tilted her head, waiting for Torchwick's answer.

"I see a killer, a person who can just end a life and not think twice about it,"

"I see a beast, covered in the blood of his enemies"

"I see a monster, disguised as a human…waiting to snap."

Ruby could feel her blood run cold from Torchwick's words.

"You know Red, he may be a heroic knight in shining armor to you,"

"But tell me, what do you think would happen if this knight in shining armor's princess got taken away from him?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd  
> Eliad91  
> Patrician Lurker  
> Woof28


	20. Chapter 20: Take the Bull by the Horns

* * *

"I've got Red all locked up, have the men finished loading the train?"

Adam turned from his watch spot as he looked at his…partner?

No, that didn't sound right. Partner would imply that they were equal.

"I assume you have also contacted the boy, correct?" Adam asked.

Torchwick nodded yes.

"…I had one of my men call him." Torchwick answered slowly, "Told him to come alone and all that, he should be here by the next day."

"And when I get rid of him, we move on to the next phase of our… 'associates' plan."

"Yup, your only job is to get rid of that monster." Torchwick replied, "Though if you can, is the real question," he muttered.

"What did you say?" Adam asked as he laid a hand on his sword.

"Nothing, nothing!" Torchwick quickly stammered out, "Just talking to myself, I'm going to go see how close we are to finishing."

Adam watched as the rat quickly scampered off from the room.

He did not like that man, he was the epitome of what Adam hated in humans.

Normally he would just cut that annoyance down with Wilt, but that woman apparently needed the thief for her overall plan.

This was a waste of his time, instead of doing something worth his while he had to take care of a pest that the thief was too scared to take care of himself.

" _What a coward."_

Still, even though Adam didn't know why he himself was needed, the pest was still a pest.

He'd better get ready for him, perhaps he should pay his guest a little visit.

Just as he reached the prison cell, Adam overheard the guards started talking to themselves.

"I heard we are using the girl as bait for the Fanginator."

"Really… Fanginator?" Another guard responded.

"That's a terrible name," The prisoner complained.

"Oh, like you have a better name…and No one asked you, Prisoner!" The first guard replied as he kicked the cell.

"Bane of the White Fang, The Faunus Slayer, The Claw Breaker, The Butcher, heck even the monster works out."

"Ohh, I like The Claw Breaker."

"Whatever man," The first guard dismissed, "And again no one asked for your opinion!"

"Sorry," The red-headed girl responded sarcastically, "…Why guys are so scared of Mori?"

"You are kidding me right?" The first guard replied

"Noope."

"Kid, he's basically destroyed the morale of the Vale sector of the White Fang."

"Yeah, he wrecked over a hundred of our men at the harbor."

"I heard he also destroyed our biggest base in the city."

"Apparently a Faunus killed his family and to this day he seeks to destroy every last one of them."

"I heard his Semblance causes Faunus to tremble in fear of him."

"Man…do you really think he's going to come?"

"Of course he's going to come," The prisoner once again spoke up, "And he's going to kick all of your butts!"

"I highly doubt that" Adam interrupted as he entered the room, "Like the many who have come before him, he too will fall before my blade."

"Yeah right," The girl snarked, "He's going to kick your butt!"

"I'm sure he will," Adam responded back, "AND YOU TWO!" Adam shouted as he then turned to the guards, "DO NOT FRATERNIZE WITH THE PRISONER!"

"YES SIR!"

Adam then left, to go check the progress of the train.

For some reason, that conversation they had irritated him more than usual.

The boy had become a hot topic within not only the White Fang but within in the Faunus community in general.

He was not only a thorn in the side of that Woman but also Adam himself.

His feats had caused the recruitment rate to drastically drop in Vale in fear of coming across him.

Desertion was punishable by death, but any members that had come in contact with him had immediately left.

They were more scared of the boy instead of the Fang.

To Adam that was unacceptable. The Fang needed to be the symbol of fear in Remnant.

That was the only way change ever happened, through fear.

All of this was for Faunus Equality…no it was all so that the Faunus would take their rightful spot on top.

How could that happen if they were all scared of a single child?

He couldn't let a first-year Huntsman-in-training destroy all that he worked up to. How could they get more people to join the cause if they were being laughed at for failing to stop a single child?

Either way, this pest was in the way of his goals and since Torchwick was too much a coward to do it and the woman Cinder was too busy with her own objectives, it was up to Adam to take care of him.

Drawing out his scroll Adam once again took a look at the video of the boy fighting at the docks.

Adam had to admit himself, unlike the girl he had just faced, the boy would be a lot tougher, as unlike her, his fighting style had a lot more power behind it.

He had never encountered a style quite like it before, he would need to be careful.

Still, outside of the unique way he fought, Adam wasn't too concerned about this pest.

His technique wasn't something Adam was too impressed by, it was sloppy and uncoordinated, any fighter worth their salt would be able to read his moves and counter them accordingly.

His men at the docks just weren't up to standard, as they panicked easily and rushed their attacks without worry of a counter.

What made the boy dangerous was not his fighting technique…no it was his physical body.

His destructive power in destroying the Harbor was something that Adam was the real impressive part.

…Was it a semblance? Or was it something else?

Either way, it didn't matter, even though he had a lot of power, it meant nothing to Adam.

Any show of strength was futile against him.

If that boy tried to use that powerful kick against him then Adam would be able to reflect it back with ease.

No, his immense strength would be of no concern to Adam, instead, his speed would be more something to watch out for.

He was able to move quickly between the guards and not let bullets hit him.

But even that was no real concern as while the boy was fast, it wasn't impossible to deal with.

If he was as easy to read as he was during the docks Adam would make quick work of him.

"Sir!" A voice yelled out in the middle of his analysis.

"What!?" Adam angrily replied as he put his scroll away.

"We are under attack right now!" The Fang Guard responded. "It's a Team of Huntsmen!"

"Pull up the screen!" Adam commanded as he looked to see who was attacking the base.

He should have known better that the girl wouldn't be alone, it wouldn't have made sense if she was by herself.

Too bad for them he was here, whoever they were they would be added to the list of those who had fallen to him.

There didn't seem to be that many intruders as it was only a middle-aged man, a blonde-haired girl, a white-haired girl who looked like a Schnee and…Blake.

Adam rubbed his eyes in disbelief, was that really Blake? …It was.

He had been so focused on what to do about that pest that he had forgotten about that traitor.

Adam smiled to himself, he had finally found her, ever since she abandoned him on that train, he had been searching for her, wanting to take her back and repaying her for betraying the Fang…no for betraying him.

What was she doing here? Was she really fighting back the against cause that she fought for, so, so long?

"I believe our prisoner we captured was part of their team!" The Guard stated as he interrupted Adam's thoughts.

"I see," Adam murmured, "Bind the prisoner and get her ready, I believe her use has come a lot sooner than expected."

"Yes sir." The Grunt responded as he left the room.

Adam once again looked at the picture of the Team of Huntresses.

"I see you've returned to me," Adam murmured as his hand touched the face of the picture of the black-haired beauty, "You won't be getting away this time."

* * *

"Yang duck!" Blake's voice screamed out as Yang dodged an oncoming blast.

Of course, the White Fang had more of those robots.

Weiss immediately used her semblance to create a wave of ice as they continued to fight their way through the base.

"How many of these animals are there!" The heiress shrieked.

"Hey!" Blake shouted back.

"I mean in terms of them being brutes."

"You still can't say that!"

"Zwei!" Yang shouted to the family pet ignoring the two, "Can you find her?"

"ARF!"

"I can't believe that dolt got captured by the White Fang," Weiss complained as she froze a grunt.

"Hey, at least she found the base!" Yang shouted back as she blasted another one.

"That's no good if she gets captured!"

Yang would normally retort but now was not the time for that.

This last hour had been hectic.

She was on watch when all of a sudden Zwei appeared barking like mad.

When they followed him they ended up finding a huge hole with Crescent Rose nearby.

That's when Yang knew Ruby was in trouble.

That girl would never leave Crescent Rose behind willingly.

When they went to go investigate the hole in the ground who did they end up finding none other than the White Fang themselves.

According to Dr. Oobleck, the Fang had been using the underground portions of the city to hide.

"What do you think they are planning?" Weiss asked as they continued their assault on the base.

"I'm not sure," Blake responded, "I've never seen this much dust before…What do you think Yang?"

It didn't really matter to Yang, whatever plan they were doing they would stop them, all she knew right was that the Fang had captured her sister and she was going to get her back.

Even if she did have to mow through them her.

" _Ruby,"_ Yang thought to herself, _"Please be safe."_

The team continued to make their way through the base blasting Fang members aside.

Their efforts eventually lead them to a large room with a train inside of it. Filled to the brink with White Fang grunts.

"Ladies!" A voice shouted, "Good to see you!"

It was a voice that Yang had become well acquainted with it.

The criminal himself Roman Torchwick. Standing on top of a train cart.

"You!" Weiss spat in disgust.

"Yes, you are very observant, it is me." The villain snarked back.

"What are you up to Torchwick!" Blake yelled, "Why do you need so much dust!"

"Wouldn't you like to find out?" The thief snarked

"What are you doing with all this dust." Weiss demanded, "This is much dust is enough to wage war against a nation."

"Hmm, I wonder what am I doing with all this dust," Torchwick stated with a grin.

Yang looked at the train that the White Fang was using, it was packed to the brim with Dust, but it looked like they were trying to deliver it somewhere, wait…

"Professor Oobleck," Yang asked as she turned towards her teacher, "Do these tunnels lead to Vale?"

"It's Dr. Oobleck," Oobleck barked, "And yes indeed they should, these tunnels were originally constructed to get people to and from Vale rather quickly…wait Miss Xiao-Long you don't mean?" He asked as his voice turned serious.

"I think I know what he plans on doing with this dust," Yang grimly replied.

"What are you guys talking about," Weiss asked confused about what the two were talking about.

"Miss Schnee, there is enough dust on there to blow a rather sizable hole into many things," Dr. Oobleck explained, "And if Miss Xiao-Long's hypothesis is to be believed then the destination of this train is meant to be for Vale."

Weiss's and Blake's face paled as they realized what their Professor was talking about.

"Are you crazy!" Blake asked as she turned toward the criminal himself, "Why would you want to blow a hole straight into Vale!"

"Hmm, I wonder why," Torchwick mockingly replied, "That's for me to know and for you to never find out."

"Too bad we are going to stop you," Yang snarked, "And we aren't going to let that train hit Vale."

"Hmm is it your best interest to stop me though?" Torchwick asked mockingly, "There does seem to be one of you missing, I wonder where's Little Red?" He mockingly asked as he put a finger on his chin.

"What did you do to my sister!" Yang shouted as her eyes turned to red.

"Ohh, whatever could you mean?" Torchwick said in feign surprised, "I don't possibly know where that nosy, brat that caused a ruckus in the base is."

"I swear if you did anything to hurt her I will tear your head off."

"Now is that the way to repay me?" He asked sardonically, "After all, I am the reason she's not 10 feet under right now."

"Wha-what do you mean?" Yang asked in confusion, "What did you do to her?" She then demanded.

"Yang don't let him get to you," Blake said as she put a hand on Yang's shoulder, "He's just trying to get under your skin".

"Yes, Miss Xiao-Long do not let your enemy get in your head." Dr. Oobleck said.

"Ohh, I'm not trying to do anything," Torchwick chipped in, "I'm just telling the truth."

"Where is my sister!" Yang demanded, "Give her back!"

"If you are looking for that little nuisance than look up," A voice suddenly rang out.

A face suddenly appeared on the tv in the room, it was a Bull Faunus with red hair wearing a white mask.

For some reason, the sight of this man seemed to cause Blake to tremble in fear.

"Adam," She cried out, "What are you doing here!"

"Blake," He replied back courteously, "It's good to see you again, especially how well our goodbye went last time."

"Wait Adam," Yang asked in confusion, "Like Adam Taurus?"

Blake nodded in apprehension.

"Wait...is this the terrible ex that you were talking about last night?" Weiss asked as well.

Blake sighed "…Yes."

"Wait you dated Adam Taurus?" Yang asked in bewilderment.

"Wow, Kitty Kat," Torchwick whistled, "You sure know how to pick them."

In the background, Adam seemed to start to get a little angry.

"Why him?" Yang asked ignoring the thief, "Like you are a beautiful girl I'm sure you sure had better options."

"Clearly she doesn't have the best taste in men," Weiss snarked, "When that ruffian Sun isn't the worst choice of romantic partners in life, something went wrong."

"Miss Belladonna, while you are free to choose whoever you like as a romantic partner, may I recommend that you don't choose someone with such an unsavory reputation next time." Dr. Oobleck said putting a hand on the shoulder of Blake as if to comfort her.

"Please…Stop," Blake groaned as she put her face in her hands.

"ENOUGH!" Adam screamed, "DO NOT IGNORE ME!"

Their attention on Blake soon shifted back to the screen.

"What are you doing here Adam?" Blake yelled recovering from her embarrassing incident, "Why are you working with Torchwick?"

"Working with is a bit too strong of a phrase," Torchwick interrupted, "It's more like we have similar goals"

"As the thief said I am doing this for a goal, the one you betrayed," Adam said angrily, "To bring the Faunus to their rightful spot."

"Adam, that's not right!" Blake protested, "The White Fang's violence will only bring more violence, not equality!"

"Who said anything about being equal?"

Blake paled from the man's response.

"Well say what you want," Yang confidently stated, "But we will stop you and that train."

"Oh yes, you may be able to stop the train," Adam replied, "But at what cost?"

"What do you mean?" Yang asked not liking the feeling in her stomach.

"Don't you need to save your teammate?" He asked as he suddenly revealed a tied-up Ruby.

"Ruby!"

"Yang!"

"That is quite a conundrum," Torchwick mocked, "You can save Little Red, or you stop this train, though I should say boarding time is coming up soon, I do look forward to your decision."

Torchwick soon left them to stew in their decision as he went into the train

"What should we do?" Blake shouted.

"Don't worry about me!" Ruby cried, "Go stop the train."

"Enough out of you!" Adam said as he knocked Ruby out,

"Ruby!" Yang screamed as her eyes turned red again.

"I promise you Blake if you don't come to me this will be the last you see of her," Adam said as his attention turned back towards their Cat Faunus.

And with that, the video closed.

"What should we do?" Weiss asked in a panic.

"We can't just let that train hit Vale!" Blake argued.

"We can't leave Ruby to die," Yang argued.

"What if we split up?" Weiss suggested as they were deliberating.

"That may not be a wise idea Miss Schnee," Professor Oobleck commented, "If we split up to fulfill both objectives we won't have the power to fulfill either."

Yang was conflicted, she wanted to save Ruby…but if they let that train hit vale, then her sister would never forgive her.

"I'm going to save Ruby!" Yang said with conviction, "I won't lose my sister."

She'd rather have a Ruby who would never talk to her again over a Ruby who'd she never see again.

"I agree," Weiss said without hesitation "It'd dirty the Schnee name if I let my partner die."

"I will choose to go wherever my students go," Dr. Oobleck said, "What about you Miss Belladonna, what do you choose?"

"Guys, even if we go to Ruby we may not even be able to save her!" Blake protested, "You don't know how strong Adam is!"

"I don't care!" Yang shouted, "I won't lose my sister!"

"…ok," Blake said as she gave up.

The train soon started to leave, Yang could feel a twinge of regret as it began to move, how many lives would she be sacrificing to save her sister.

No, she couldn't think about that now, all that mattered was saving Ruby.

She stared down at the enemy in the room ready to go through them to reach her sister.

She hoped she made the right choice.

"Arf! Arf! Arf!" Zwei suddenly started to bark crazily.

"What's up with Zwei?" Weiss asked as she looked at the dog.

Yang wasn't quite sure what was up with him, he looked…scared?

She had never seen him look that scared before, and Zwei had been through a lot with dad.

All of a sudden Blake fell onto the ground shivering.

"Miss Belladonna are you ok?" Professor Oobleck asked as he went to comfort his student.

"I-I-I don't know." Blake said in a scared voice, "It-it just feels like something big is coming."

Yang started to notice that it wasn't just Blake who seemed scared out of her mind, the remaining White Fang members in the room also seemed to shiver as well.

Yang raised an eyebrow at this…What was going on?

Suddenly Yang could feel it, a feeling of dread, something was approaching…something powerful…something dangerous.

Whatever it was it seemed to now affect Weiss as she suddenly dropped her weapon.

Even Professor Oobleck was getting affected as it seemed like his hand was trembling.

Yang could feel it start to get close as she readied Ember Celica, whatever it was be it Grimm or some other monstrosity if it stood in her way of saving Ruby, she would beat it.

***BOOM! ***

A loud explosion soon filled the room as dust filled Yang's sight.

"Yang, Blake Weis, Professor Oobleck?" a familiar voice rang out, "What are you guys doing here?"

"It's Dr. Oobleck!" The teacher yelled out

"Sorry Doctor, force of habit," The figure apologized.

As the dust finally settled Yang was finally able to see she recognized who it was.

"Mori!" She shrieked,

"What are you doing here," Blake asked as she finally recovered.

"I got a call that Ruby was in trouble," he stated, "Came here as quick as possible."

"Did you bring reinforcements?" Weiss asked as she picked up her weapon.

"Reinforcements…what reinforcements?"

"You Buffoon," Weiss angrily responded, "Reinforcements from the Bullhead you took to get here."

"Bullhead," Mori responded confusion, "I didn't take a bullhead to get here."

"Then how'd you get here," Yang asked.

"I ran here as quick as possible."

"You ran?" Blake asked in disbelief.

"I ran." He confirmed

"Mr. Jin," Dr. Oobleck asked as he adjusted his glasses, "You do know the distance between Vale and Mt. Glenn, and what are you saying…correct?"

"Yes, it was very far."

Weiss looked like she wanted to retort but she couldn't get a word out.

"So, what's going on?" Mori asked.

As Professor Oobleck started to explain to Mori the situation, Yang narrowed her eyes at her friend.

He was breathing heavily, as if he just ran a marathon, no way…did her really?

Wait, now that Yang noticed, the oppressive feeling she was feeling earlier was gone.

Yang took a look at Zwei as she realized the dog was backing off…that was strange, normally he'd be barking like mad at Mori.

…Was Mori the source of that fear she was experiencing earlier…no, that couldn't be it…right?

"So, the solution's easy." Mori said as Professor Oobleck finished explaining, "You guys chase after that train I go get Ruby."

"It's not as easy as you are saying," Blake argued, "Adam is really dangerous."

"Not to me."

His response sent chills throughout the room.

No one seemed to want to challenge Mori's assertation.

"You guys go ahead and catch that train," Mori said as he pointed a finger at a lingering vehicle.

Yang could tell that what he was saying was not a suggestion, and right now the atmosphere in the room was one where no one wanted to argue with him.

"Now hold on," A white fang grunt interrupted, "If you think we are going to let you chase after that train you have another thing coming."

Mori was silent as he stared at the room full of enemies.

***boom***

Yang rubbed her eyes unsure what she was seeing, the room full of guards was now filled with bodies lying on the ground in pain.

The only evidence of an attack being performed was Mori lifting his leg like he just finished performing a kick.

"What the hell!" Weiss cried out in fear.

In an instant, Mori whipped out every in the room with no effort whatsoever.

"Go," He said in a firm tone as he lowered his leg.

Blake, Weiss, and Professor Oobleck nodded immediately as they made their way to the vehicle.

Even Zwei seemed to obey Mori's commands without question.

Yang lingered unsure if she should go with him.

"Don't worry Yang, I will save her." He said in a soft tone.

"When you find her…give her this," Yang said as she threw Crescent Rose to Mori."

Mori nodded as he caught, after securing it on his back he began to go deeper into the base.

As she watched him sprint deeper into the base only one thought occupied her mind.

" _And I thought I was scary when I was mad."_

* * *

"What the fuck is this Monster?"

"Someone stop, Him!"

"The FANGINATOR is here!"

"Stop calling him that!"

Ruby was woken immediately by the cries of screaming men.

Looking around she realized she was in the room full of dust where she got captured.

It was filled to the brink with not only men but a couple of paladins as well.

Ruby flinched as a guard was sent flying near her.

Suddenly as if it were by instinct Ruby started to tremble.

Something was approaching, even Adam himself was looking unnerved.

"Hold your positions!" One of the leaders yelled, "When he gets to the end of the tunnel we fill him with dust."

Ruby strained her eyes trying to figure what was coming.

It was a figure in the tunnels, Ruby wasn't quite sure what it was, but the White Fang seemed to be very afraid of it right now.

"Fire!" One of the White Fang commanders shouted as they unleashed their weapons on the figure.

Bullets soon started to fill the tunnel as it was filled with a cloud of dust.

"Did we get him!" A Grunt yelled.

"I'm not sure!" Another one yelled back.

"No…you missed," A familiar voice spoke from the debris.

As if a bolt of lightning struck, a section of the room was blown away in an instant.

"Get the paladins!" One of the White Fang members yelled as they activated the robots to fire at the introducer.

"Take this you monster!" One of the pilots yelled as he fired missiles at the intruders.

In a familiar clean motion, the figure caught the missile and redirected straight back into the paladin.

Another Paladin tried to smash the figure down with its weight but it was no use as the intruder caught the giant metal fist with his hand.

"What the Fuck are you!" The pilot screamed as the intruder destroyed the second paladin with a kick.

…a Kick?

"Mori!" Ruby shouted as she recognized who was fighting

"Ruby!" He shouted back with relief, "What happened!" He shouted back as he dodged an attack from a Fang and struck him in the neck, the back, and the leg.

The grunt collapsed in an instant.

"I got captured!" Ruby shouted back

"I know!" He yelled back in annoyance as he made quick work of another grunt by kneeing him in the face, "That's why I'm here!"

"Do not ignore me!" Adam suddenly yelled next to Ruby, "I am sick of people ignoring me!"

"I'm sorry do I know you?" he asked with a clueless face.

"He's the guy who captured me!" Ruby yelled back.

A suffocating pressure suddenly filled the room as Mori's face turned from relief to cold.

"I see…" he muttered.

His focus now on Adam, the boy started to walk where Ruby and Adam were, ignoring the grunts who he had just been fighting.

"His back is turned get him!" A Fang member yelled as they struck Mori behind his back.

This action was met with a shattering sound…of the guard's weapon.

" _Why does Mori dodge,"_ Ruby thought to herself, _"Most of those weapons can't hurt him."_

"What the fuck are you!" The Fang member said as he looked at his weapon.

The Faunus's question was met with a swift kick to the face.

"Someone stop, him!" One of the guards screamed.

It was no use as Mori slowly made his way to Ruby mowing through guard after guard like they were nothing to him.

"Stop!" Adam commanded, "I will take care of him personally."

Ruby swore she heard this before.

Like Deja vu, a path opened up between the two, as the grunts got out of the way.

Drawing his sword, Adam walked towards Mori ready to fight him.

Finally reaching each other the two stopped and stared at each other.

"I'd like to formally introduce myself to you," Adam started, "My name Is Adam Tau—"

Adam's introduction was interrupted by Mori smashing him in the face with his fist.

"You, dare!" Adam sputtered, "I—oof!"

Adam couldn't get a word in as Mori started to savagely beat him with every single punch, knee strike, elbow strike, and Kick that Ruby had learned from him.

"Should…should we do something?" One of the guards asked nervously.

"…Do you really want to get in the middle of that?" The other guard replied sarcastically.

The room was frozen with fear as Mori continued his savage beating of their leader.

Fist met gut, knee met spleen, foot met head, it'd be easier to count the parts of the body where Mori hadn't struck.

The beating went on for about a minute before Mori finally took a break.

"You," Adam sputtered as Mori "I will make you—oof"

"I really don't care."

The break was over as Adam was once again interrupted by Mori kneeing him in the stomach and part two began.

Once again, fist met gut, knee met spleen, foot met head…like before it would've been easier to count the parts of the body where Mori hadn't struck.

Ruby could only watch in horror at this one-sided beatdown, why didn't he just knock out Adam, he had the strength to do it, he was intentionally holding back to inflict as much pain on the Faunus as possible.

"Hah, hah," Adam heavily breathed as Mori once again stopped.

" **Jin Mori Original** " The boy calmly stated as he got into his stance.

Ruby could feel the air pressure gather around him as a dragon formed behind him.

" **BLUE DRAGONS KICK!"**

He then fired off the dragon as Adam desperately tried to block it with his sword.

**_*Boom*_ **

It was no use as the Man was sent flying through the walls of the cavern.

"EVEN ADAM WAS NO MATCH FOR THE FAUNUS SLAYER"

"FEAR THE FANGINATOR!"

"EVERYMAN FOR HIMSELF!"

"RUN"

The packed room was suddenly empty as the Fang started to run away.

Mori made his way over to Ruby.

"Let her go." He stated when he reached her.

The guards obeyed immediately as if they were commanded by a king.

After they released her they immediately ran out of the room.

Ruby could only stare at her friend in shock.

The warmth he usually had in his eyes was completely gone.

As he reached out to her she backed away quickly flinching from her.

She soon his arms around her.

"You're ok," Mori whispered in her ear, "I am so glad you are ok."

Ruby wasn't quite sure how to feel, on one hand, she was glad that she was rescued by her the other…

She had never seen such a brutal side to her friend before…

It was like watching a demon rampage.

"Let's get back to the others," he said as he let her go and reached his hand out to her.

Ruby nodded.

"I believe you are missing this," Mori stated as he pulled Crescent Rose from behind his body.

"Ohh, Crescent Rose," Ruby cried as she grabbed her weapon, "I've missed you so much." She said as she startled to hug the weapon.

"Make sure not to lose it next time," Mori said in a serious tone.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!" A voice yelled out before Ruby could answer.

A loud explosion filled the room.

Red soon filled Ruby's eyes as she felt blood splatter across her.

She soon realized that the blood wasn't hers.

"Mori!" She screamed as she watched her friend slump down a pool of blood forming from where he fell.

How could this happen?

"Hah, that's, hah, what you get."

Ruby turned around to see where the source of the strike came from.

It was a heavily injured Adam with his mask broken off and his clothes completely destroyed.

"How!" Ruby screamed, "How are you still conscious!"

"Hah, That, hah, fool underestimated me," Adam said as he staggered towards them.

Ruby activated Crescent Rose, ready to defend her friend from the Faunus.

"Hah Do hah do you really think you can stop me," Adam said in a labored tone as he brought up his sword.

"It can't hurt to try," Ruby retorted, "I'm up for a round 2."

She needed to get Mori help quickly, his wounds looked really bad.

"How did you hurt Mori?" Ruby asked, she needed to be careful, if Adam was able to harm Mori he must have had a lot of power behind him.

"My hah, semblance," Adam stated as he continued to stagger over, "It allows me to absorb power with my sword and hah and return it with more power."

That was a dangerous semblance, no wonder Adam was able to hurt Mori when conventional ways couldn't.

"So that's why I got hurt," A voice next to Ruby said, "It was my own power."

Ruby looked over in shock as she watched her friend who was supposed to be near death's door get up.

"How!" Adam screamed, "How can you still move!"

"I've taken a lot worse."

"DIE!" Adam screamed as he rushed the two.

Mori sidestepped the rampaging bull, grabbed his horn, and with all his force smashed Adam's face with his knee.

***SNAP***

"AGHH!" Adam shouted in pain, "My Horn! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME!"

"It's just a horn."

"JUST A HORN!" Adam screamed back, "IT'S NOT JUST A HORN!"

"Oops," Mori said as he looked at the black horn with indifference, "Sorry about that."

"MORI JIN!" Adam screamed, "I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!"

His scream was met with a swift kick to the face sending him sprawling to the ground

"Let's see if you can absorb this," Mori calmly replied as he got into position.

In an instant, Mori fired off a Recoilless Kick.

The space between the two bent as Adam tried to block the kick and absorb the blow, but it was no use as Adam's sword shattered and the Bull Faunus was sent flying

"AGGH!" The Bull Faunus screamed as he was sent flying through several walls.

Mori stumbled to his knee, breathing heavily as the sounds of Adam's screams died out.

"Mori!" Ruby asked as she rushed to him, "Are you ok?"

"Hah… I'm …ha fine," He replied with a labored breath.

"We need to get you help!" Ruby said as she looked for bandages to wrap him up.

"Hah, I hah should be hah fine." He responded, "…We need to get back to Vale." He said in a serious voice as he caught his breath.

Ruby could only stare at him as she watched him get up.

"Let's go to the others," he stated, "This cavern won't last long especially with how much fighting has gone on."

He then made his way out of the room.

Ruby nodded as she followed him.

Looking behind she watched the room they were fighting in collapse on itself crushing everything in it.

"Is everything ok?"

Ruby once again flinched from Mori's question.

She couldn't help but jump back in a bit in fear.

"I'm ok…"

"Good, let's get going."

Aggh what was up with her?

She wasn't sure how to feel right now.

She was glad he was ok and was grateful that he saved her but…

That heroic image she usually had of him wasn't appearing.

Instead, it was the visage of something else.


	21. Chapter 21: Breach

* * *

Today was supposed to be a big step forward for Jaune.

They were going to go on their first mission as Team JNPR and he couldn't wait to actually get experience as a Huntsman and see how much he had improved.

Then everything suddenly turned upside down.

It started when Jaune was training with Mori and Pyrrha to get some last-minute practice before he went out.

Then when Mori's scroll rang, his friend suddenly left with a serious face.

It was strange though; he had never seen his friend look so mad before.

Like he had seen Mori be mad before, such as when Team CRDL were at the peak of their bullying but it was normally hard to tell. Usually, he'd keep a neutral expression while calmly dealing with whatever was pissing him off.

However, this time… well Jaune counted himself lucky that he wasn't on the receiving end of Mori's wrath.

That wasn't the biggest event of Jaune's day though…that came from the massive explosion that occurred.

The next couple of moments were a blur as their Bullhead that was initially headed to a frontier town suddenly turned around and they found themselves in the middle of Downtown Vale.

"My Brave students!" Professor Port declared as they reached the disaster zone, "As of now the city is under attack and it is up to you to help defend it!"

"What exactly happened?" Jaune asked as he took a look at the Grimm swarming through the hole the explosion caused.

"The cause is currently unknown Mr. Arc! As of now, the only thing we know is that there has been a breach and all available personnel has been called upon to seal it!"

"What should we do then Professor?" Pyrrha asked in concern.

"I will be on the front lines bravely fighting back against the Grimm Scourge, What Team JNPR does, however, will be up for their Team Leader to decide!" Port replied back jovially.

Oh, that made sense whoever was in charge of the Team should be the one to decide what to do especially in a moment of crisis…

Wait…who was the leader of JNPR again?"

"M-m-me?" Jaune stammered as he pointed to himself, "You want me to decide what we should be doing?"

"Of course, Mr. Arc!" Professor Port responded back with his confident smile, "Even though our current plans may have been derailed this is an excellent opportunity for you to learn and grow!"

Well looks like he was making the decisions today.

Jaune took a quick survey of the disaster zone as he tried to discern what to do amongst the chaos.

What could he do right now? He wanted to figure out what caused that explosion but that was something that could be done later, plugging the hole would be nice but none of them really had the firepower to deal with the massive amount of Grimm coming through right now.

" _What could we do?"_ Jaune thought to himself, _"What is the most important that needs to be done right? …Oh?"_

"We first need to evacuate the civilians to a safe spot!" Jaune declared as he finished soaking up the situation, "That's the most important thing that needs to be done right now!"

"Excellent choice Mr. Arc!" Professor Port exclaimed as he slammed his hand against Jaune's back

"Oof!" Jaune exclaimed as he stumbled forward.

"Are you ok Jaune?" Pyrrha asked in concern.

"I'm fine," Jaune replied as he caught his breath, "For now we should split up, our main objectives should be to locate, rescue, and evacuate!" Jaune then pointed to different spots within the city to do their rescues.

"Jaune…are you going to be ok by yourself?" Pyrrha asked in concern, "Should I not partner with you?"

"No," Jaune replied shaking his head, "I need you to go to the most chaotic areas because I know you can handle it."

"Then at least have Ren or Nora accompany you!" Pyrrha attempted to argue back.

"Any time wasted protecting me is time for someone else to lose their life," Jaune replied back with a steely look, "I know you're concerned for me Pyrrha…but trust in me please, or more trust in the training you've given me."

Pyrrha looked like she wanted to argue back, but Professor Port put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look.

"Fine," Pyrrha sullenly replied.

"Thank you Pyr," Jaune replied as he looked towards the chaos and braced himself, "For now I don't see any Grimm that we can't handle one on one if you find one that needs a team do not engage and call for backup!" Jaune commanded.

"Yes sir!" Team JNPR cried back.

"Nora! Go to North Main Street and take out that horde of Beowolves chasing those people!"

"AYE AYE Captain!" Nora screamed in delight as she went to bombard the creatures with her grenades.

"Ren! I need you to go to that apartment complex over there and evacuate whoever is still left!" Jaune cried as he pointed to a building that was under attack.

"I'm on it," Ren responded as he fired off his guns and charged into his assigned building.

"Pyrrha! I need you to go to near the where the breach is and rescue anyone that got caught on in the initial blast."

"I will do that," Pyrrha responded.

Just as she was about to leave she suddenly looked at him wistfully.

"You promise you will come back alive …right?" She said as she looked at him with a worried look.

"I promise," Jaune replied back, "Besides Mori would kick my ass if I get myself killed."

"Jaune this is serious,"

"Don't worry Pyr, I will keep my promise, remember? An Arc never goes back on his word." Jaune said back with a confident smile.

His words seemed to cause a smile to appear on the girl's face as she nodded and went to her assignment.

"And where will you go Mr. Arc?" Professor Port asked.

"I will probably head down over there," Jaune said as he pointed to a spot, "Rescue whoever's there and evacuate them."

He had been better get going.

"Mr Arc!" Professor Port suddenly called out.

"Yes?" Jaune asked just as he was about to leave.

"I do not say this often but…I can hardly recognize the you from the beginning of the school year to the you now!"

"…Thank you?" Jaune replied in confusion.

"You are welcome!" Professor Port "May we meet again!" He shouted as he went straight into the horde.

" _Was that supposed to be a compliment? Aggh that's not important now."_

Jaune cleared his thoughts of the strange conversation and started to make his way to his designated spot.

"Hello!" Jaune shouted as he got there, "Is there anyone here?"

Jaune's shout was met with silence.

He then began to look around trying to find anyone that needed to be rescued.

"He-help," A voice feebly cried out, "I-I need help!"

Jaune quickly turned his head

"Where are you!?" Jaune shouted as he tried to locate the source.

"I-I'm over here," The voice cried out, "I'm trapped under this piece of rubble."

Jaune looked around as he finally found what he was looking for.

He then sprinted over to go rescue them.

"You!" The person trapped in the rubble said as soon as he got there.

Jaune had to rub his eyes as he couldn't believe who he was saving…it was the guy who threw him…twice.

"What are you doing here?" The big guy asked.

"I'm a Huntsman…well Huntsmen in training but that's not important" Jaune declared, "I'm here to save you!"

"You are kidding me, right?" The big guy asked in an incredulous tone, "Someone as scrawny as you?"

"Do you want me to save you or not?"

"Sorry, sorry."

"I thought so," Jaune replied with a smug look.

Just as he was about to grab the stone slab his danger senses started to ring.

"You may want to hurry up!" The guy screamed, "Because we got company!"

Looks like Jaune's senses were correct as two Ursa Majors converged on the spot they were at.

Oh boy, he had barely survived a fight with just one and he had a hunch that he had some help with that one now that he knew what his partner's semblance was.

"You got to get me out of here!" The trapped guy screamed.

"Don't worry," Jaune said in a reassuring tone, "I will save you."

He then turned towards his enemies, looks like his training will have to be put into use.

First things first was he had to get these Grimm away from the civilian.

Jaune started running flaring up his aura in an attempt to get the Grimm to follow him.

His plan worked as the two Bear like Grimm followed him.

Starring down his enemies Jaune prepared himself for a fight.

Drawing Crocea Mors Jaune readied himself for combat.

Before the Grimm could attack Jaune attacked one of them quickly.

His sudden attack caught the Grimm off guard as Jaune was able to get a good hit on it and slashed straight through it.

Pyrrha's lesson on a preemptive attack seemed to have worked as now Jaune had one less enemy to work with.

Unfortunately, the other Grimm suddenly attacked just as Jaune turned around to face it.

Raising his shield Jaune could only block as the monster delivered blow after blow.

Jaune could feel his guard slowly start to break as he defended with all of his might.

What could he do? If he let this continue eventually the Ursa would break through his guard.

What would Ruby do? What would Yang do? What would Pyrrha do? …What would Mori do?

Oh right, Pyrrha wasn't the only one who had been teaching him how to fight!

Jaune braced himself, feeling the rhythm of the beast's strikes as he waited for the right moment.

" _Now!"_ Jaune thought to himself once he had gotten used to the monster's attack pattern.

Just as the Paw of the Grimm fell upon Jaune, he quickly dropped his shield dodged to the side, and with all his might sliced where the beast was unprotected.

Jaune's counter-attack worked as the Bear Grimm fell to the ground with a thump, it's disintegrating body showing that it had died.

" _Huh looks like his lessons on dodging were useful."_

Jaune then quickly ran back to the survivor.

"How…how did you do that scrawny?" The guy asked in amazement as Jaune got back.

"Eh, I have good teachers."

Jaune then got his around the slab and with all his might lifted it up.

"Can you move?" Jaune said as he struggled to hold up the giant slab.

"…yeah," The guy responded as he crawled out.

He then got up and looked at Jaune with a weird look.

"…what?" Jaune asked as he let slab go.

"Why did you save me?" The guy asked, "you had all the reason to leave me on my own…so why?"

"Because I want to be a huntsman who saves people," Jaune declared with confidence., "And I won't go back on my word."

"…Wow," The guy responded back with a sheepish look, "I-I'm sorry for throwing you…twice."

"It's fine," Jaune dismissed, "I'm sorry for hitting on your girl…and also hitting you with a water balloon."

Just before the guy could respond a loud noise suddenly rang out as the ground beneath him moved, causing them both to fall to the ground

"What just happened?" The rescued civilian asked

Jaune got up and turned around; his jaw-dropping as he quickly found the source of what caused the shaking.

" _WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!"_

* * *

" _Ughh what happened?"_ Blake thought to herself as she finally came to.

It felt like she got hit by a bus…but instead of a bus it was a train…and it crashed…and also exploded.

"Blake, Weiss!"

"Yang!" Blake called back, "What happened?"

"The train hit Vale and now the city is under attack," Dr. Oobleck rambled as he got out of the rubble.

Blake began to organize her thoughts as she attempted to remember what happened in the last few minutes.

They were on that train with Torchwick and the White Fang and they were attempting to stop it from reaching Vale. They were struggling to stop it and just as they crashed Weiss used her ice as a shield wait…

Where's Weiss?

"Weiss!" Blake shouted looking for her teammate.

"Uggh,"

Blake and Yang immediately ran over to their teammate.

"You ok Ice Queen?" Yang asked in concern as Blake picked her up.

"…What did I say about calling me that?" Weiss snarked back, "Wait…Where's Zwei?"

"Arf!"

"Glad to see you care about us too Ice Queen,

Looks like Weiss was just fine right now.

"That was ingenious of you Miss Schnee," Dr. Oobleck said as Weiss got up.

"Thank you, Professor," Weiss commented as she regained her bearings.

"It's Doctor!" Dr. Oobleck yelled, "Unfortunately we have failed our initial objective of stopping the train from penetrating the cities defenses," he finished as he calmed himself.

"What should we do then?" Blake asked as she looked at the chaos around her.

"Quite simple, Miss Belladonna search and destroy."

"Ah yeah," Yang excitedly said as she slammed her fists together, "that's what mama likes to hear."

Leaping into action Team WBY began to fight the Grimm pouring into the hole.

Firing Gambol shroud Blake nailed a couple of Beowolves with her weapon before turning it into its sword mode to cut down a few more Grimm.

"Blake!" Yang called over as she motioned to a couple of Ursa Majors to their side.

Working together with her partner Blake wrapped up a huge Ursa with her weapon while Yang pelted it with bullets.

Weiss then froze off the other one but right as she was about to finish it off a Beowolf appeared behind her back.

"Weiss! Look out!" Blake called out to the heiress to warn her.

***Bang* *Bang* *Bang***

All of a sudden, three shots went into the Beowolf, protecting Weiss from getting hit by it.

"Weiss!" A voice called out, "Are you ok?"

"Ruby?" The heiress responded back as she recognized who saved her, "Is that you?"

"Ready and Back in Action!" The girl confidently responded, "Now let's get rid of these Grimm!"

With their team leader rejoined Team RWBY resumed their defense of the city with greater effectiveness.

With Ruby back, Blake, Yang, and Weiss were able to fight at close range with ease as their leader provided long distant support.

The area that was completely overrun with Grimm soon became thinned out as their Team performed their search and destroy with great effectiveness.

"Blake!" The Redhead yelled out when all that was left was an Alpha Beowolf "Ladybug!"

Combining with her leader Blake attacked one side of the Beowolf while Ruby struck the other side, with the end result being cutting the beast in perfect harmony.

"That's the last one," Blake commented as she caught her breath, "It's a good thing you were able to get here in time."

"Ruby!" Yang yelled before the girl could respond to Blake, "Don't ever worry me like that again." She cried as she put her sister in an iron grip hug.

"I'm sorry for worrying you Yang," Ruby replied in a muffled voice, "…Now can you let go of me? She pleaded as she struggled to get out.

"Do you promise not to get caught by the leader of a terrorist group again?" Yang asked still holding on to her sister.

"I promise," Ruby replied, "Now please, let me go, I need air."

Yang finally let go of her sister as Ruby fell to the ground.

"You dolt!" Weiss shouted as she went over to her partner, "How dare you worry us like that."

"I'm sorry," The redhead whined back, "I wasn't planning on being captured."

"No one plans on getting captured!"

"How did you escape anyway?" Blake interrupted before Ruby could defend herself, "And how did you get here so fast?"

"oh…, Mori came to save me," Ruby replied after a bit of a pause, "We then ran all the way over here."

"You ran?" Weiss asked in a disbelieving look, "Ruby do you know how far it is from Mt. Glenn to Vale?"

"Well, I tried to catch up with him my semblance, but I was apparently going too slow and needed to take too many breaks, so he just carried me," Ruby responded back.

"I really want to argue about the feasibility of that, but I just can't," Weiss said with an exasperated sigh.

"Well when you blow up a harbor with a kick being able to run that fast for that long shouldn't be a surprise," Blake chipped in.

"How long are you going to hold that over me?!" Weiss whined.

"I'll let it go one day."

Today wasn't that day though.

Blake felt vindication of being proved right after all her arguments with Weiss, she wasn't letting that one go any time soon.

"Wait," Blake asked as she realized the subject of their conversation wasn't there "Where is Mori?"

"Oh, he's right…here? … Mori?"

Ruby looked around trying to find their friend.

"I swear he was right next to me," Ruby said in confusion as she gave up on finding him.

"He probably went off to fight Grimm," Yang replied, "Probably scaring the crap out of whoever is nearby."

"Are we actually going to talk about that?" Weiss asked, "Because even Professor Oobleck got nervous around him."

"You weren't handling it pretty well either Ice queen."

"I will I have you know I was perfectly fine."

"Sure, you were," Blake snarked as she chipped in.

Were they going to address that though?

Blake had been in a lot of high-pressure situations but that ranked up there in experiences which she did not want to repeat.

"Talk about what?" Ruby asked as she tilted her head in response to Weiss's question.

"Well…when we were going to save you, we ran into Mori, and well…let's just say this horde that we are facing right now isn't the scariest thing we've seen all day," Yang explained slowly.

Blake and Weiss nodded.

"Oh," Ruby responded with a look, "I get what you mean…"

Blake couldn't help but notice that Ruby was looking uncomfortable.

"…Wait?" Blake said as she realized something, "What happened with Adam?"

"What you're still worried about your ex?" Weiss snarked.

"Aww she still has feelings," Yang teased.

"No!" Blake denied, "What I mean is… Adam's incredibly dangerous, and if he's hot on your tail we may have more problems."

"…I wouldn't worry about Adam," Ruby somberly replied.

"What do you mean?"

"He's uhh…how do I say this,"

"He's what?"

"Let's just say he and Mori met and well… it did not end well for him."

"Mori Beat Adam in a fight!" Blake asked in a shocked voice.

"I wouldn't really call it a fight," Ruby replied rubbing her head, "It was more of a…I'm trying to think of the word, it was…it was like when Weiss tried to go against Yang in Remnant the board game."

"It was a massacre?" Yang chipped in.

"HEY!"

"That's the word, massacre," Ruby said, "It was a massacre."

Blake couldn't believe what she was hearing, she knew Mori was strong, but Adam was considered one of the White Fangs greatest fighters.

Just who was he?

"It was pretty one-sided," Ruby continued to explain, "Though Adam was actually able to get a really good hit on Mori…it didn't really mean much in the end."

"So where is he now?" Blake asked, "Did Mori capture him?"

At that Ruby started to rub her head, "…no he actually kicked Adam through several walls…I think Mori may have killed him."

At those words, Blake could feel her blood run cold.

Mori killed Adam?

Blake wasn't quite sure how to feel about those words.

On one hand, Adam was finally stopped, and he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone again.

But on the other hand…there was something within her that made her feel sad that Adam was gone, maybe it was because outside of her parents Adam was one of the people, she had known the longest. She had hoped that maybe she could help him change, but it looks like that wasn't an option anymore.

Was there anything she could've done to help Adam avoid his path?

"Ahh, guys!" Ruby shouted as she interrupted Blake's thoughts, "We have some company!"

"We already have company, Ruby!" Weiss snapped back.

"No, we have some really big company!"

The Team took a look at where Ruby was pointing.

It was a horrifying sight to see.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Weiss complained, "Goliaths, really?"

The city needed to do something; larger and larger Grimm were now converging on the Vale, the city was going to be overrun soon.

There were so many of them and they had been fighting for a long time.

She could feel her body start to ache as she looked at the endless number of large enemies.

What could they do?

***BOOM***

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a huge dust cloud filled the air.

When the smoke finally cleared, and Blake could see again the first thing she noticed wasn't that the Giant Grimm had all been decimated.

The thing that caught her attention was what destroyed the Goliaths.

" _WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!"_

* * *

Mori looked back at Ruby as they were running, she was struggling to keep up with him even with her semblance.

"Ruby, are you ok?" he asked as he stopped.

"Huh?" She said as she caught up, "Oh don't worry I'm ok." She then put up a peace sign to show that she was fine.

Mori didn't believe her; this was the sixth time they needed to stop.

She was breathing heavily and looked completely ragged.

"Ruby, you know I can carry you?'

"You don't need to do that!"

It was a bit surprising with how much force the girl responded to his suggestion.

It's not like he hadn't carried her before, and she wasn't that conscious about her weight …right?

"If you say so," He said, "We'll rest for about a minute before we keep going,"

"I'm fine," she responded, "I can keep going."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup!"

"…if you say so."

With that Mori and Ruby continued on their way to Vale…or they would have if not for Ruby tripping and sprawling onto the ground.

"When did it turn dark?" She asked in a muffled voice.

"It didn't you just fell."

"Oh"

"You sure you don't want me to carry you?"

"Nope."

Mori sighed in exasperation at the girl's stubbornness.

"You know you should probably save your energy." He said as he looked at her on the ground, "We don't know what we are going to encounter when we get back."

He got no response from her.

"You know your semblance isn't really useful for super long distances like this…right?"

Still nothing.

"It would be easier for the both of us you know that… right. ...You aren't that heavy."

This seemed to have earned him a glare as she looked up at him with an unpleased face.

"What you are saying makes a lot of sense," She responded, "But I'm going to do what I want and say no."

Did she just use his motto against him?

"Stop being so stubborn!" He shouted back, "Just let me carry you!"

"I'll be fine!" She responded back, "I just need to catch my breath!"

This was going nowhere, when she was like this it was impossible to get her to do anything.

"Screw it," He said in exasperation as he went over, "I'm carrying you whether you like it or not."

"Hey!" She responded as he picked up her, "Let me down!"

"Nope."

"But I can keep up I swear!"

"Nope."

"But I—"

"Nope."

"…So this is what it feels like to be on the other side of this," Ruby muttered.

"It's not a fun feeling," Mori responded back as he dashed off.

"I just don't want to cause you any more trouble," she murmured as he dashed towards Vale.

Mori internally raised his eyes at this, she didn't usually comment about bugging him whenever he bailed her out.

And it's not like he cared that much about saving her even though he internally complained, he always would be there for his friends.

"Are you ok?" She asked interrupting his thoughts.

"Hmm,"

"From your fight?" She clarified, "Will you be fine?"

Was that why she was awkward around him right now?

Was it because he got hurt? If it was, she shouldn't feel too bad, that was his fault for letting his guard down. He should have double-checked to make sure Adam was down for the count.

"I'll be fine," He responded, "I've taken a lot worse."

"I'd hate to know what a lot worse for you is."

" _Getting hit by a planet is up there,"_ He thought to himself.

Another moment of silence filled the air between the two as Mori could start to see the outline of Vale.

"Aggh!" Ruby shouted all of a sudden, "This is so awkward!"

"Yes, it is," Mori replied, "Do you want to talk about it now?"

"I'm sorry Mori," Ruby replied with a sheepish tone, "It's just…I've never seen that side of you before."

That side?

Just as Mori was about to ask her to clarify a more important situation popped up as they got to the city.

"Looks like they weren't able to stop that train." He muttered as he saw smoke near the center of the city, with Grimm entering the hole that had been made.

"This is not good" Ruby responded with a grim face, "…Wait is my team ok?"

Mori took a look around trying to see if they were around.

He eventually found them near the center of the chaos fighting off the Grimm.

"They're fine," He said as he confirmed that they were relatively safe, "They should be over there."

"We got to go help them," Ruby replied as she jumped out of his arms.

"Ruby wait!"

Mori tried in vain to stop her, but it was too late as she already went to jump into the fray.

Ehh she'd be fine, Mori could sense there wasn't anything too dangerous, Team RWBY was strong enough to handle all the threats.

He was proven right as Ruby joining her team only increased their effectiveness in their fighting.

Mori jumped on top of a building trying to scout out and see if there was any place that really needed him, he could make out Team CFVY fighting off some Grimm, it looks like they were fine, he could also see Team JNPR conducting rescue efforts, it seemed like everything was going fine on their end as well. Though it looked like Jaune was going to get into trouble, but he was able to fight out of it.

Mori couldn't help but be impressed by the display of tenacity and courage the blonde just showed.

Looks like everything was under control so far.

Still, what did Ruby mean by she'd never seen that side of him before?

Actually, now that Mori had time to think about it, he really hadn't been acting like himself today.

After he got that call from Roman, he made an immediate beeline to Mt. Glenn to rescue Ruby.

He didn't think about conserving his stamina at all, the only thing that mattered was getting there as fast as possible.

Then when he found the other three girls along with Professor Oobleck he noticed all of them were trembling a bit, at the time he thought it was because they were tired from all their fighting, but now…

"… _Shit,"_ He thought to himself, _"Was I really letting off that much killing intent?"_

He normally kept his emotions under control, no matter how much someone pissed him off, he'd keep calm and pay them back accordingly.

It was different today, not only did he fail to keep his emotions in check, but he also failed in thinking rationally.

During his fight with Adam, he should have knocked the Bull Faunus out quickly, that mistake cost Mori, as the Faunus was able to land a solid hit on him because of his carelessness.

Mori still could feel the sting of Adam's blow across his chest.

He could have ended the fight easily within seconds, but instead, he wanted to inflict as much pain as possible, after all, how dare that Ox-King reject threaten to take away someone important to him.

"Ruby getting kidnapped most have brought back some really bad déjà vu." He muttered to himself as images of his grandpa being impaled by Mubong's arm flashed through his mind.

"Now that I think about it Xuanzang also did have a habit of getting into trouble as well."

Images of his grandfather and teacher appeared in his mind, they were the two figures he loved most in his life. In an instant, they disappeared and were replaced by the two figures he hated most; the ones who took them away from him.

" _Tathagata and Mubong Park."_ He darkly thought to himself, _"I won't let you two or anyone else take away my loved ones again."_

He was this close to adding Adam to that list. He would not let that list grow.

A loud noise suddenly interrupted Mori's thoughts, as he searched for the source it was like looking a large herd of Goliaths were attempting to make their way into the city.

" _That's not good,"_ Mori thought to himself, _"If things stay the same the huntsmen will soon be overwhelmed, and the city will fall."_

What could he do to remedy the situation, he could probably jump into the fray and take them out one by one, though that may take too long, and he could see in the distance more Grimm coming to the city looking at it like Zwei eyeing a steak.

He needed to act quickly to neutralize all the threats.

Luckily, he was an expert at destroying multiple huge enemies at once.

"I'll just do this then," He said to himself as he picked at his ear.

Finding what he needed he took one look around him to make sure that no one was around to see him.

Once he was sure he was alone, he aimed at the Grimm.

After checking to make sure that there was no one that would be caught in the crossfire, he spoke only one simple word, a single command, one that he hadn't said in months.

" **Expand"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys I'm back sorry about the unexpected hiatus I just needed a break because I was experiencing some serious burnout. So in light of that, there are several things I'm going to do to hopefully avoid that. One of those is the weekly schedule is going to be gone now, chapters are going to be updated as they go, which should make it easier for me to write without being under a time crunch. Other than that I Hope you liked the most recent chapters and hope you keep following Journey.


	22. Aftermath

Salem took a look over the giant pillar.

When Watts first told her about how the nations of Remnant had been pooling together their resources for a project, she had no care for it.

It did not matter what these nations did for it would all come to naught against her power.

Her mind soon changed when Watts informed her that it involved the massive crash that happened a while back.

When she first heard about the crash it intrigued her.

What could have possibly fallen that could cause so much panic and could she use it for her plans?

Her interest dampened when Watts told her that the object that fell was just a stone pillar, but she decided to check out the item personally in the hope that perhaps there were more secrets hidden within said pillar.

She was sorely disappointed when she first laid her eyes on the object.

It was just a giant stone pillar.

There was nothing special about it. It was just an ordinary stone pillar!

Yes, it was quite large, and it was abnormal how it got here but…

This was of no use to her plans! The only thing this seemed good for was to measure the sea level!

Just as she was about to fly off in a rage and punish Watts for wasting her time. She took a closer look at it and realized something.

She did not know what it was made of.

Despite it looking like it was just made of stone it was not.

Was it some sort of concentrated dust? No, it wasn't that either.

Its material wasn't anything that existed on Remnant that was for sure.

As she attempted to investigate the item, she attempted to move it with her magic…it did not budge.

" _Interesting,"_ she thought to herself.

As she continued to investigate the item, she started to realize something about it.

Its energy was…familiar, something she hadn't experienced in a long, long time.

The last time she had this feeling was when she was just a mere mortal.

When she was young and was foolish enough to depend on others for help when she was desperately in love with …him.

She closed her eyes as she attempted to recall the feeling and where she'd experienced it before.

What was it? Where did this feeling that had brought her back to the past come from? back to when she was weak, back to a time when she truly thought that the one she loved, loved her back as much?

The memories eventually started to come back to her.

…It was a feeling of awe and helplessness. It was her only hope left; she had exhausted all of her options.

This was her at her lowest, she was begging…

What was she begging for again?

She was…begging…begging for?

Begging to bring him back!

Salem's eyes fluttered open as anger filled her heart.

Her heart cursed as she realized the source of this power…

How could she forget? After all, they were the reason why she was like this.

Those Cursed Brother Gods!

They were the ones who destroyed her life.

Cursing her for daring to try to save a loved one and turning her loved one against her.

This energy that this pillar was emanating was of that of the Gods! Salem was sure of it.

She wasn't quite sure which of the Gods it was, it didn't feel like it belonged to the God of Darkness but it also didn't feel like it belonged to the God of Light.

Still, the energy felt similar enough to them.

She was one hundred percent sure it came from one of the Gods.

…Could they have possibly returned?

This started to worry her.

That would throw a massive wrench in her plans if they returned before she was ready.

What could she possibly do?

No, she needed to calm down and think rationally … she remembered the Gods' promise that they would only return if all the four relics had been reunited.

Ozma still held the Relics and he had no incentive to unite them and bring the Gods back right now. After all, if they returned and humanity was still not united, they would destroy it.

Last she checked, humans were still the same, even though they had the threat of Grimm, they still would rather fight against each other.

Therefore, the worst-case scenario of the Brother Gods returning was not likely.

Then what could it be? Why did this object that belonged to a God fall from the sky?

She would have to figure out the meaning of this if her plans were to succeed.

Deciding to go back to her castle to think about it, Salem began to ponder the reasons for the giant pillar falling.

Just as she reached her castle, a voice shouted out to her while she was pondering.

"My Queen!"

It was Watts one of her most useful servants.

"There's no need to be so patronizing, what do you need?"

"That pillar that was in the North Sea," He answered, "There's another one, it appeared in Vale."

He then pulled up images of a pillar that was the exact same as the one she just investigated.

In an instant, it had destroyed a horde of Grimm that was invading the city.

"What is the meaning of this?" She coldly asked.

"I'm not sure yet your Majesty," He responded, "But I will figure it out immediately."

Thoughts began to run in Salem's head. The option of the Gods returning was highly unlikely, but what if instead of them returning they sent an emissary?

If that was the case, she needed to get rid of whoever they sent.

"That is not necessary," She answered back, "I have my own plans for this."

"…Your own plans Ma'am?"

"My own plans," She reaffirmed.

"Your majesty, you already have Cinder in Vale wouldn't it just be better for her to take care of it?"

"There's no need," Salem responded back.

If this item was truly connected to the Gods then her servants were of no use against such a being, no… instead she needed something else.

"I have another trip to make Watts, I will return soon."

"Where are you going, your majesty?"

"It's just a little errand, nothing for you to concern about."

"…As you wish your majesty."

Once again Salem headed out of her castle, this time to somewhere completely different.

If she was to kill whoever the Gods sent, then she would need a lot more than humans.

She would need a Grimm, and not just any Grimm… no she would need one of her more ancient and powerful ones.

One that was only thought of to exist in legend.

One that countries feared.

One that would destroy whoever the Gods sent.

* * *

"What do you mean the pillar is still in the North Sea I clearly saw it in Vale yesterday!" James shouted into his scroll.

"James should you really be on your scroll right now, we are about to start?" Glynda asked in a disapproving voice.

"Yeah Jimmy, show some respect."

"I don't want to hear about showing respect from you, Qrow!" James barked back.

"You wanted this meeting James; you could at least pay attention to it."

"Of course, Glynda! Sorry about that."

"Kiss up,"

"Shut it Qrow!"

Ozpin could only massage his temples at the migraine that was developing.

It really was never a great idea to have these three together

They all had some sort of issue with each other, from Glynda's dislike of James's methods to James's pining for Glynda and Qrow being…Qrow, it was an absolute mess whenever the three gathered.

It was amazing…they were the three greatest allies he had yet put them together in the same room and it was like he was teaching First years all over again.

"As fascinating as this conversation is, we really should begin, after all, we still need to plan for the Vytal Festival." Ozpin interrupted before Qrow and James would start to pull their weapons on each other.

"And that's the thing Oz!" James yelled as his attention turned towards Ozpin, "Should we really be going ahead with the Vytal Festival?"

"James does have a point," Glynda chipped in, "Can we really go on with the festival with how things are currently going?"

"Thank you, Glynda,"

They did have a point, there were a lot of unknown factors right now going into the Vytal festival, however…

"I agree that right now we are in a precarious situation, however, despite the concerns I believe it is best that we continue with the festival as planned."

"Ozpin what are you thinking!" James yelled back, "It is obviously not safe, not only have you been attacked invaded, but there's also that out there!"

"That?" Qrow asked in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Qrow, you were here yesterday you saw the giant pillar appear out of nowhere," Glynda explained,

"Wait. That was real? Shit, maybe I should've finished the bottle after all."

Both James and Glynda groaned at their colleague's antics.

"James while you do have a point about us being invaded, the Vytal Festival is one of the most important events that we have," Ozpin said ignoring Qrow.

"It's just a tournament Ozpin!"

"Yes, it is a tournament, but remember James, the Grimm feed off negative emotions, and the Vytal festival is one of the best moments we have to help lift the spirits of the people, it represents the unity between the nations of Remnant if we cancel that it'll cause people to panic and wonder what's going on."

Even though they were in a precarious situation right now the one thing they could not do was give up and show fear. The people of Remnant needed something to hope for and what better way of showing hope than to show the bright future that was their current youths.

"And what about that Giant Pillar that appeared Oz?" James asked, "That thing had more firepower than my Atlesian fleet."

"That fleet is a great use of money that's for sure," Qrow commented while taking a swig of his drink.

To James's credit, he ignored Qrow's comment.

"We still don't know what the first one that crashed is and now there's apparently another!" James continued, "I believe it is unwise to hold the Vytal Festival with so many unknown factors!"

Ozpin took a deep breath before continuing.

"I understand your concern James, but I believe whoever or whatever wielded that pillar is no danger to us. In fact, based on what happened with it only destroying the Grimm the wielder may be an ally."

"How do you know! Yes, I will agree that it helped it saved Vale, but who knows what would happen if whoever wielded decided to aim it at one of the nations."

"You present a great point James, but I may ask you a question?" Ozpin asked as his voice turned serious. "If you are right that whoever wielded that pillar decided to aim it at Vale or any of the other nations of Remnant, what could you do to stop it?"

At that James paled as he started to try to think of an answer.

"Why I would…I would…I wou-"

"Blow it up?" Ozpin asked, "We've already determined to that's impossible based off the current results of Operation Giant Slayer, or would you perhaps try to block it, that would be a good idea…except for the fact that I don't think there's any known material that could block an attack of that caliber."

"…" was all the response that James gave.

"James if whoever wielded that pillar decided to aim it at one of our countries there is nothing that could stop him from wiping us all out, however, based off how long it has been since the pillars have arrived, we can safely assume that right now the wielder has no intention of destroying us, in fact, the only time it has made an appearance was to save us."

At that James seemed to start to finally back down as it looked like Ozpin's reasoning had won him over.

"…I at least want to increase the number of ships I bring for security.," He said after mulling it over for a while.

"Oh great bring more ships," Qrow snarked, "That'll really put the people at ease."

"If what Ozpin said is correct and that whoever uses the pillar isn't our enemy that doesn't mean we are without enemies," James replied turning to Qrow, "Even though we've captured Roman Torchwick, that doesn't mean the Queen doesn't have any more pawns she could use, we need all the firepower we could get to show them we are not afraid and we will fight back."

Ozpin sighed as he looked towards James's eyes. It seemed like this thing James was absolutely resolute on.

"Very well," He said, "You may bring more ships."

"Thank you, Ozpin, I will go to inform my superiors of this decision.

And with that, the General left.

"Is there anything you need me to do Oz?" Qrow asked as he finished drinking his bottle, "Do more surveillance and spying?"

"No Qrow, I believe it would be better if you stayed here for now," Ozpin replied, "James does have a point that we need as much power as possible."

"If you say so," Qrow answered back, "If you need me you know where to find me, now if you don't mind, I need to go interro—get to know a boy that's apparently gotten close with my nieces."

And with that, the Raven-haired man had left.

"Is Qrow referring to Mr. Jin?" Ozpin asked as he turned towards his Deputy, because if he was not he may need to warn Mr. Arc and Mr. Ren.

"I believe he is unless there's another boy that's gotten close to Miss Rose and Miss Xiao-Long." She said with a straight face.

"You should go record it for James I'm sure he would enjoy that show." Ozpin joked.

It seemed like Glynda didn't appreciate that joke as she left with an annoyed face.

Once she left, Ozpin sat back in his chair took a deep breath, and drank another sip of his coffee.

It looked like he had been able to navigate that minefield. James had been pacified and they were going to able to continue the festival without a hitch.

Still, though, James really was worried about that pillar and the circumstances behind it.

Ozpin felt a little guilty that maybe he should have told him the identity of their savior.

But if he knew the truth behind it, Ozpin wasn't quite sure that would help the man that much. It would probably in fact do the opposite and make the man even more erratic and unpredictable.

"Even though I appreciate the help sealing the breach Mr. Jin," Ozpin murmured as he finally was able to relax, "Did you really have to make such a show with Ruyi Jingu Bang?"

* * *

"I heard it was a secret Atlesian weapon!"

"Really dude, it was just a giant pillar."

"That's what it makes a secret!"

Ruby was in combat class right now but for the most part, no one was actually talking about combat.

The topic in question?

The item that saved Vale had been basically all that the student body had been talking about.

Rumors were thrown out willy nilly with speculation on what it was, who used it, why did it appear?

Ruby would've like to say she was above it all and was paying attention to her class.

…But she wasn't.

It was just so, so cool!

Like the rest of the student body, Ruby had become completely enamored with the object.

From the way, it appeared of nowhere to destroy all the Grimm to the way it suddenly disappeared.

She hadn't seen any weapon like it before!

Even though it didn't look like any conventional weapon Ruby could tell it was one hundred percent a weapon.

She wanted to know all about it.

How do you use it, where did it go when it disappeared, what was it made of?

All Ruby could think of was getting her hands on it and dissecting every little secret the thing had.

"Ruby, Ruby!"

"Wha- what?" Ruby's replied as her thoughts on the giant pillar were interrupted by her sister.

"You're drooling right now, it's kind of gross," Blake said with a dull tone.

"You really are a child," Weiss snarked.

Embarrassed Ruby quickly wiped the drool off.

"It's been so long since you've had a reaction like that, I forgot you were complete weapons nut." Yang teased.

"Aren't you guys a little curious about what that was?" Ruby asked.

"Oh yeah I am," Her sister replied quickly, "I want to figure out why that stupid pillar keeps on appearing out of nowhere and haunting me like a ghost."

"I want to figure out what its connection is to the one in the North Sea," Weiss answered

"I want to figure why Mori got hit by a pillar" Blake commented.

Blake's comment was similar to another reason why Ruby was so interested in that pillar. She had seen similar pillars before, like the one that Blake just mentioned that hit Mori and also like the giant one that Weiss had found out about.

Even though all these pillars were different sizes Ruby couldn't help but feel like they were all connected.

It wasn't just because they all looked the same even though that was a reason, but also because those pillars crashed on the same day…the day she found Mori.

Ruby couldn't help but feel that these pillars held the secret to Mori's memories and his past.

Even though he regained some of his memories like all his martial arts and losing his grandfather, anytime she asked about what he did before she met him, he responded with he didn't know.

Ruby had a hunch that the pillar landing on him wasn't an accident, he was most likely in a fight with someone else…

It would make sense based on the state she found in him, he was covered in cuts and bruises, the type of wounds to be found from combat, not accident.

She probably came across the aftermath of the fight and was able to just barely get Mori out of there.

"… _Wait that doesn't make sense."_ Ruby thought to herself as she realized a flaw in her logic _, "I remember seeing that pillar thinking it was a shooting star, wouldn't that mean that Mori was fighting someone in space?, wait if that was the case, does…does that mean Mori's from Space!? …NAAAHH."_

Even that was way too outlandish for Ruby.

"Miss Rose!"

"Aliens don't exist!" Ruby shouted before realizing who called her.

It was an unhappy Professor Goodwitch.

"Yes Miss Rose, the existence of extraterrestrial life is considered dubious by many scientific experts," She then crossed her arms and gave Ruby a displeased glare

"That is not what this class is about though, I have been calling you for the past several seconds to inform you that it is your turn to spar, and I'd like to ask if there's anyone you would like to fight."

She then gestured to the audience to show people waiting.

"if you want to continue to work on your thesis of extraterrestrial life you will have to wait until class is over."

At that Ruby could hear her classmates snicker at her plight.

"Sorry about that professor," Ruby apologized, "And yes there is someone I'd like to face."

Last night when Ruby went to bed, she had a hard time sleeping, there was so much that she needed to think about especially with all the events that just happened.

At the end of all her thinking, there was one thing she knew she needed to do no matter what. Who she was about to fight was the first step to her solution to the problem she was presented with.

"I want to fight Mori!" She said in a confident voice.

Shock immediately rippled throughout her friends and teammates.

"You dolt, he said he didn't want to fight any of us yet!" Her partner yelled.

"Didn't he say he wanted to regain his fighting sense?" Blake asked as she tilted her head.

"That's quite a surprise, Miss Rose," Professor Goodwitch replied after a moment of silence, "Mr. Jin will you accept Miss Rose's challenge."

Mori recovered from his initial shock of Ruby's challenge before nodding.

"Wait you're fighting us now!" Yang cried out, "That's not fair Ruby you cut me! I called first dibs!"

Ruby stuck her tongue out in response as she went to get ready.

"You can't do this Ruby I called dibs!"

She knew her sister had just been itching to go against Mori when he revealed his strength, however, Ruby needed to fight him.

It wasn't because she was trying to figure out from their fight if he had any alien traits no, it was for another reason.

Ever since Mt. Glenn Ruby had just been bothered, Torchwick's words to her about how much of a monster Mori was had been constantly in her head and the Mori she saw fighting Adam only seemed to confirm them.

She had been trying to reconcile the kind, happy go lucky Mori she knew to the brutal and cold one she saw, and she realized…they were the same.

As she thought about the events in Mt Glenn, she realized one of the first things Mori did when he found her was to give her one of the strongest hugs she had ever received, it was one where he didn't want to let go like if he did, he would lose her.

Of course, he would act like that! He had lost his Grandfather by failing to protect him and he didn't want to lose someone he was close to again.

He even told her himself that the reason he trained so hard was so that he wouldn't lose anyone ever again.

That brutal side of Mori came from his deep desire to protect those he cared about.

Now that Ruby was able to reconcile the differences, she now needed to solve her next problem.

What could she do so that he would never have to show that side again?

Ruby wasn't scared of him turning on her or any of his friends, she was more worried about the fact that if he was ever that angry again, he'd cross a line he couldn't come back from.

The conclusion to that was fairly simple.

She had to grow up and become strong. Not just any kind of strong but she had to become strong enough so that Mori would never have to worry about her or any of their friends ever again.

She had already made the choice earlier in her life that she had wanted to become strong so that she could help and save everyone she came across.

This time her choice to become strong was so that she could help her friend and make sure he never had to experience the pain of losing a loved one again.

…It was a simple answer but that didn't mean it was easy.

"Are you ready Mr. Jin?" Goodwitch said as Ruby got ready.

Mori nodded.

Ruby could feel the air around her start to get heavy.

" _So, this is what it's like to face Mori,"_ Ruby thought to herself.

Ruby was glad she didn't have to be in this position often.

"Just so you know I'm not going to go easy on you," He murmured.

"I wouldn't expect anything less." She replied.

"And you remember the rules of fighting him correct Miss Rose?"

Ruby nodded as she steadied herself.

One clean hit was all it took to win.

Ruby's goal in this fight was against Mori was to see how far she needed to go.

She needed to know just how far above Mori was above her.

That didn't mean she wasn't going to try to win.

"Then Begin!

In a flash, the fight began.

Ruby instantly used her semblance to jump back, as Mori appeared before in an instant.

Most people's reaction to Mori's first move was to block it however after watching so many fights and from his own teaching, she knew trying to block was just a bad move, there were too many options with Renewal Taekwondo that allowed him to easily break someone's guard. And that wasn't even counting his brute strength where he could just break through people's guard on his own.

If she wanted to beat Mori she needed to come up with a plan.

And there were a couple she had in mind.

Gaining distance was the first step of one of them. While gaining that distance, she fired Crescent Rose in Mori's general direction.

Mori dodged them with ease. That was fine Ruby wasn't expecting them to hit anyways, they were really only meant to slow him down so he couldn't come straight at her.

" _Come on,"_ Ruby thought to herself, _"Just a bit more."_

Bit by bit Mori was starting to close the distance between them.

Only a couple of seconds since the fight began before he had closed the distance between them.

Once he had gotten close enough, she could see him begin the windup to throw a punch aimed at her face.

" _Now!"_

This was the moment Ruby had been looking for.

Planting down Crescent Rose, Ruby responded by using her weapon to anchor herself while she counter-attacked with a kick at his face.

***Wham***

A loud noise echoed throughout the arena as Ruby made contact.

Did she get him?

"…You are doing well." Mori responded as he made his block just in time.

" _Drat, that plan didn't work,"_ Ruby thought to herself as she once again used her semblance to gain some distance.

She was hoping that in his eagerness to attack he would overextend and leave himself open to a counterattack.

" _On to the next one."_

This time she made the initiative as when Mori attempted to close the distance between Ruby only obliged.

Her sudden change of direction startled Mori as Ruby took advantage of him being caught off guard by swinging Crescent Rose at his side. As he dodged it by going to the side Ruby fired Crescent Rose to change its momentum to strike again quickly.

This strike he dodged while ducking under the weapon, as he did that Ruby planted Crescent Rose again and once again attempted another kick this time hoping she can get him with his balance ruined.

*Wham*

Another smack filled the room.

He had met her kick with his own.

" _Jeez, how much of a monster are you?"_

The angle he had kicked from wasn't an easy one but to him it was like he was throwing one while standing up.""You've got more don't you?" Mori said with a smile.

"I've got plans for days," Ruby responded with her smile.

That was actually a lie there was only one more strategy that she had thought of.

Pushing herself to her limits Ruby began bouncing around the arena with her speed.

Mori responded by putting up a guard and follow her with his eyes.

She needed to move fast enough where he couldn't catch up to her.

" _You can't keep on following me forever…right?"_

This was going to be a battle of her endurance vs his ability to follow her.

It was her last chance.

A couple of seconds of her circling around passed and nothing seemed to happen.

" _Come on,"_ Ruby thought to herself, _"I don't have much time left."_

It looked like Mori was going to win this battle of attrition, however just as the last of her strength was starting to run out Ruby noticed a slight gap in Mori's defense.

Taking this chance Ruby dashed towards him in hope that she could exploit this weakness.

" _I've got you now!"_

All of a sudden Ruby's vision was filled blue as she realized that Mori reacted in time and was delivering a knee strike.

In a panic, Ruby put her arms up to block it and hoped that she could take the hit.

The impact didn't come …wait…she tried to block his attack!

In an instant, Ruby could feel her arms come down.

"You did well, I really mean it," Mori said as he passed her.

All of a sudden Ruby felt one hit to the right side of her head, then to her left, and then finally a hit to the back as she crumpled on the ground.

"Miss Rose's aura has dropped to fifteen percent!" Miss Goodwitch declared, "Mori Jin is the winner!"

Cheers soon erupted from the crowd.

"That was completely awesome."

"That fight didn't end within five seconds!"

"I call next!"

It seemed like their fight had the audience completely enamored as they were no longer focused on the pillar.

"That was good," Mori said as he reached his hand out to hers, "Those lessons I've been giving have been starting to come together."

"It's still not enough though," Ruby mumbled as she took it, "I knew you were strong I just never experienced it myself."

"Don't worry you're getting better!" he replied with a laugh, "I'd tell you what to work on but I think you know, right?"

Ruby nodded as she went back to the stands, that opening she thought he had wasn't an opening at all, it was a trap and she walked right into it!

It was ironic, she had been the one making traps all throughout the fight, and then she fell for one.

"Another you should watch out for is you shouldn't be too predictable," Mori commented as they reached the stands, "Even if I didn't have great reflexes, I still would've been able to pull that off based on how you moved.

Ruby nodded as she agreed with him, what were ways she could become more predictable?

She was used to overwhelming people with her speed but now that Mori had mentioned her predictability, she noticed that for a lot of her wins they had come quickly, long-drawn fights usually ended in her loss.

That probably meant in those long fights opponents were getting used to her speed.

"I wonder how I could overcome my predictability," Ruby muttered as she put a finger on her chin

What were ways, she could get people not to get used to her speed?

"Ruby!" Yang's voice called out as she interrupted Ruby's thoughts.

"I'm mad that you cut me but that was an awesome fight, so I'll forgive you."

"Sorry, Yang,"

"You did well, especially against that guy," Weiss commented with approval, "It seems like people are finally getting used to fighting that guy."

"I'm going to be honest, I was shocked he didn't end that fight within seconds," Blake said as she looked at Mori.

At that Yang's face turned serious.

"You guys really didn't notice did you?" she said in a serious tone.

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked.

Ruby knew what her sister was talking about, after all, she was the one who was just finished fighting.

She had wanted to know the distance between her and Mori so she could figure out where she needed to be.

She had estimated the distance between them before the fight but that estimate was wrong…The chasm between the two was a lot bigger than she had originally thought.

She hadn't noticed it before but facing him in the ring there was one that was apparent, Mori's form ever since he had come back from his mission with Team CFVY had become a lot cleaner.

He didn't hit her with any more strength than he needed to and he was fighting with complete control of his body.

There was very little wasted movement or energy coming from him.

He was fighting at her physical level and showing her the difference in skill they had.

There was a mass difference between how she fought and how he fought.

Especially that last sequence, now that had Ruby had time to think about it his last attack on her was completely amazing!

He started with a Baekdu to get her to raise her guard, and then in an instant switched to a Sickle Kick to destroy it and finished her off with a Triple Kick.

That sequence was completely awesome!

It seemed like every attack he had was connected.

He really did have it all, from a good strategic mind, to an amazing body, to perfect skills.

There was something about his strength that just seemed endless.

Ruby looked towards Mori.

Noting her stare Mori smiled at her while she smiled back.

On the outside she was happy, after all, she fared the best against one of the strongest people in the class.

On the inside though?

" _I've got a long way to go don't I?_

* * *

He had a long way to go before he could get out.

It was a miracle Adam survived not only the cave collapsing on him but also his fight with that…that Freak!

Hate filled Adam's heart as he remembered his loss against Mori Jin.

He had never been so humiliated in his life.

It wasn't even the fact that he lost that made Adam so angry.

He had lost fights before, granted it had been a long time since he had lost one but when he was younger he had his fair share of careless moments that led to a loss.

This wasn't like any loss he had before, he was dominated and completely outclassed from start to finish and the only reason Adam got a hit in was because that bastard got careless and underestimated him.

Adam's heart started to rage more, the look in Mori Jin's eyes as he beat down Adam was seared in Adam's mind.

It was the eyes of someone who was looking at a nobody, like a bug that one can just squash.

How dare he look down on him!

How dare he underestimate him!

How dare he treat him like he was a nobody!

Nobody treated him like that!

He didn't care, that would not stop him, he couldn't die here, not until he paid his opponent back ten-fold for humiliating him like that.

The pain where his horn used to be burned, more painfully than his left eye ever did.

"Mori Jin!" Adam swore, "You will pay!"

Rocks started to fall on him, threatening to end his life but Adam didn't care, he still had something he needed to do, not unless he achieved his vengeance on the one who had not only defeated him but humiliated him as well!.

Until he accomplished his vengeance he would not die.

HE WOULD NOT DIE.

In an instant, the debris covering Adam was blown off and the White Fang Lieutenant was suddenly freed.

In confusion, Adam looked searching for the one who saved him.

When he found his savior there was only one thought that crossed his head.

" _What the FUCK is that?!"_


	23. What Happened Last Night?

If it looked fun, Sun was going to do it no matter the consequences.

He once had a friend tell him that bad ideas make for great memories and that was something that he wholeheartedly agreed with.

Right now, though, he wished he could deck in the face whoever told him that.

"Uggh my head what did I do last night," Sun muttered to himself as he woke up with a head-splitting headache.

Where was he right now?

Looking around trying to gain his bearings Sun realized he was in Team JNPR's room…or what remained of it anyways.

The windows were shattered, there was a couch sticking through one of the walls, and the wall that was to the outside was gone replaced by a giant Nevermore pecking at a sleeping Jaune, wait… what?

"Jaune!" Sun screamed, "Wake Up!"

"Woah what's the emergency!" Jaune said as he woke up startled, "What the hell happened to my room!" He screamed as he looked around at what was left of Team JNPR's sleeping quarters.

"Uhh dude, that's not even our biggest problem right now."

"Not our biggest problem!" Jaune screamed back, "My room is completely destroyed!"

"Take a look behind you," Sun whispered as he pointed out the big elephant or rather bird in the room,

"Behind me what can you possibly be …oh," Jaune said as he followed Sun's finger.

The Giant Nevermore was right in Jaune's face as he turned around.

Out of nowhere the giant bird suddenly screamed a loud cry.

"Why is there a Nevermore here?" Jaune screamed,

"I don't know!" Sun screamed back.

"What are we going to do!?"

"Kill it obviously!"

"Where're our weapons!"

"I don't know!"

"How are we going to kill it then?!"

Just before Sun could answer the Nevermore flew up outside the building and dived beginning its attack.

"Uggh my head," a third voice suddenly called out, it was Mori.

As if it was in a cartoon the Nevermore stopped midair with a nervous look.

_"Wait, do Grimm even get nervous looks?"_

"Why is there a Nevermore here?" the brown-haired boy asked as he looked at the giant bird.

As if on cue the Nevermore suddenly turned around and started flying away as fast as possible.

" _Well, that was new,"_ Sun thought to himself.

"Jaune, what happened to your room?" Mori asked as he looked around, "And what was with the Nevermore?"

"I don't know!" the other blonde yelled back, "I just barely woke up!"

Now, Sun had been in a lot of strange situations but this one definitely took the cake.

What did they do last night?

Sun looked around the room in hopes of finding clues of what the hell happened.

"Now let's think," Jaune muttered, "What were we doing last night."

"If I remember correctly Yang found a new club that she wanted to check out," Mori said as he rubbed his forehead, "Ruby wanted to come along as well."

"I think Blake got dragged along as well," Sun said as the memories of yesterday started to fill in a little bit.

At that, both Mori and Jaune gave Sun a look.

"Stalker," One of them coughed into their hand.

"I didn't stalk her!" Sun said defending himself, "I was trying to hang out with her when all of a sudden Ruby came in and dragged her out and said, 'We are doing a girls night!'"

"Oh yeah!" Jaune exclaimed as he pounded his fist into his hand, "They invited Pyrrha and Nora as well."

"Didn't Weiss comment that they would do girls' night better than us?" Mori commented, "I think we got pissed about that and wanted to prove her wrong."

A depressing aura filled the room as they looked at the damage around them.

"At least we didn't end up in jail this time," Jaune commented as he rubbed his head in shame.

"And we didn't destroy a club!" Sun chipped in.

"So how did this end up happening anyway?" Mori asked as he looked throughout the room.

Before anyone could answer his question a loud crash suddenly rang out from the bathroom.

"What is that?" Jaune whispered in a scared voice.

"I don't know," Sun whispered back, "You don't think it's another Grimm do you?"

"Honestly I would not be surprised if there was," Jaune replied back, "Mori go check out."

"Why me?"

"Because you're capable of leveling buildings and tanking dust explosions in the face."

"Ahh, fair point."

Mori then went to the bathroom door and immediately opened it taking a stance ready to strike whatever was in there.

As Mori swung the door open a large youth with dark hair around their age fell onto the ground looking sick.

"Yatsuhashi?" Mori said in a confused voice, "What are you doing here?"

"I was trying to be the voice of reason last night," the giant called Yatsuhashi said as he got up, "That obviously failed, and ughh my head what hit me last night."

"I'll tell you as soon as it hits me," Another voice called out, "And I knew you guys were completely crazy as soon as I laid my eyes on you."

It was a red-haired tanned skin youth who looked like he was around their age as well.

Sun couldn't help but notice that his eyes were completely White.

Mori seemed to want to say something, but it looked like he decided against it.

"Fox?" Mori asked as he settled on what he was going to say, "You're here as well?"

"Mori?" Jaune spoke up, "Do you know these guys?"

"We met last night," The one called Fox answered, "Though if you can remember that, I'd be sorely impressed."

"We are upperclassmen," Yatsuhashi commented, "Mori filled in for Fox for one of our missions while he was foodsick."

"I still say I had the more harrowing experience," Fox muttered.

"So, wait if you remember that, do you remember what happened last night?" Jaune asked.

"Bits and pieces," Yatsuhashi replied, "I remember Mori introducing us to you guys because you wanted to and I quote, 'One up the girls'"

Memories started to fill Sun's head.

"Oh yeah!" Sun commented, "I remember now, we were pissed that Weiss insulted our honor and we swore that we would one-up their girl's night with our own boy's night."

"We gathered in Jaune's room last night, and just as we were about to get ready, Neptune came in carrying in a large box," Mori muttered.

"And that large box had alcohol!" Jaune finished, "So it's Neptune's fault my room looks like a warzone!"

"Speaking of which where is Neptune?" Mori asked.

Sun looked around the room for his partner but there was no sign of him or his blue hair.

"Which ones Neptune again?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"I'm pretty sure he was the blue-haired sissy." Fox commented.

Sun wanted to defend his partner but…Fox wasn't wrong.

"Ehh he'll show up eventually, we need to quickly clean this up before Pyrrha and Nora get back," Jaune said in a panic, "Ren help me get the beds back…Ren?"

Jaune looked around the room for his teammate.

Sun looked around as well, Ren wasn't here as well, he was probably with Neptune.

"Mori!" Jaune yelled in a panic, "We lost Ren!"

"Do you remember where he was last?" Mori responded in an equal panic.

"You guys are showing a lot more concern for Ren than Neptune," Sun said as he raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Yeah but…" Jaune replied back.

"…Nora," Mori finished with a shutter.

"Wouldn't Weiss be mad that we lost Neptune though?" Sun asked.

"Ehh she'll get over it," Mori answered back.

Sun wanted to say something back but…they weren't wrong.

"By the way?" Jaune asked as he looked at the missing wall, "Do you know what was up with the Nevermore this morning?"

At this Yatsuhashi and Fox looked at each other in surprise.

"Nevermore? I can't believe that crazy son of a bitch did it," Fox said with an impressed look

"Mori, how did you do it? Yatsuhashi asked as he turned to the boy.

"Do what?" he asked in confusion.

"Only one of the most legendary things I've not seen," Fox commented, "Yatsuhashi told me you were pretty crazy, but I didn't know you were that insane."

"What did I do!?"

"You don't remember?" Yatsuhashi asked in surprise."

"Dude I can't even remember where my room is," Sun commented, "What did Mori do?"

"Last night after he sent monkey boy and the couch flying into the wall, he bragged that he could find a pet that was ten times better than that fleabag." Fox explained to the group, "After that the five of you left and we didn't see you again until this morning."

"So, the Nevermore was your fault!" Jaune screamed as he turned towards Mori with an accusatory look.

"Wait why did he send me through the wall?" Sun asked in confusion as he started to notice that he did feel really sore.

"Ehh it was an arm-wrestling contest, something about if he won, he got your name."

"My name?"

"Yeah, he was yelling something about how 'there could be only one!' It was weird."

Mori put his head into his hand in shame in response to Fox's comments.

"…wait?" Jaune interrupted before Sun could inquire more, "Fleabag?"

"That dog you were taking care of," Yatsuhashi explained.

"I don't have a dog."

"The corgi?"

"Oh, you mean Zwei, he's not our dog he's Ruby's and Yang's pet," Jaune answered back.

"So why did you have him last night?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"I had him last night?"

"Trust me I was not drunk enough to hallucinate a dog."

At that Jaune put his finger on his chin as he tried to remember why he had Zwei.

"Ohh, I remember now!" He exclaimed, "that's because Ruby asked me to watch him for their girls' night," Jaune said as he explained Zwei's presence, "It was either me or Mori and well…"

"I would've just dropped that little monster off at the pound," Mori finished.

"So, did you give him back?"

"No Ruby said she would come to pick him up in the morning," Jaune answered back.

Suddenly a panic look appeared on his face.

"Oh no,"

"What?" Sun asked.

Jaune frantically searched the room.

"We lost Zwei as well!" He yelled in a panic.

"With any luck, he was probably breakfast for that Nevermore," Mori muttered.

"Mori take this seriously we need to find Zwei and Ren!"

"Can't we just find Ren?" Mori whined.

"No!" Jaune said back, "I promised Ruby I would take care of him and an Arc always keeps his word."

"You can break your word one time, right?"

"Mori if we lost Zwei do you know what will happen?"

"Blissful peace," Mori replied with an enlightened look.

"No! we get a sad Ruby; do you want to see a sad Ruby, a Ruby who will look at both of us with her puppy dog eyes and say to us 'you lost Zwei?' in a sad voice."

Mori put his hand on his chin as he began to think about it.

It took about a minute before he put his hand down and sighed in defeat.

"Fine, we can try to find Zwei as well."

"What about Neptune?" Sun asked in concern for his partner.

"What about Neptune," Fox answered.

"Neptune will be fine," Jaune cut in, "We need to find Ren and Zwei right now, Sun, Mori let's try to find them in Vale."

Sun nodded as he got dressed and grabbed his weapon.

"Yatsu, Fox you two stay behind in case the two come back." Jaune directed as he finished getting ready. "And clean up the room before my teammates come back."

"Got it!" Yatsuhashi said with a salute.

"Wait why are we cleaning up his room?" Fox asked in confusion.

Yatsuhashi shrugged as he went over to the couch, "Help me move this couch out of the wall."

"Oh yeah have the blind person be the mover…real progressive guys," Fox muttered as he went to grab the other side.

"Hopefully we can find Ren and Zwei," Jaune muttered as they left the room.

Sun wanted to add in Neptune as well, but he decided against it.

Neptune was a big boy who could take care of himself.

Hell, Sun left Neptune on his own all the time.

He'd be fine, what was the worst that can happen to his partner.

* * *

Jaune could only gulp as he stared at the large group of people.

They looked very unfriendly and Jaune didn't have much backup himself.

Mori was halfway across the city and he really only had Sun to support him.

Normally, that wouldn't be a problem as Sun was pretty strong and most of these men were just your average thug, however, there were two girls that were among the giant group that looked really dangerous.

" _How did I get myself into this mess?"_ Jaune thought to himself.

**Two hours ago.**

Jaune was in a panic right now, he had no idea where Ren or Zwei was. They had been trying to retrace their steps in order to locate the two but so far they have had no luck so far.

"Where are they!? "Jaune yelled.

"We'll find them eventually," Mori commented.

"Can't you smell them?" Sun asked as he turned towards the brunette, "Like that time you tracked me?"

Jaune's heart started to soar, of course, they can use Mori's amazing sense of smell!

"Can't"

Jaune's heart immediately dropped like a brick.

"Why!?" he cried.

"Ever since I woke up my sense of smell has been messed up," He commented as he rubbed his nose, "I don't know why but I can't smell a thing right now."

More memories of the night before started to surface in Jaune's memory, more specifically memories of Ghost peppers being stuffed up a spiky-haired brunettes nose.

"Let's focus on just finding them," Jaune said as he tried to move past the conversation, "Any ideas of where they can possibly be?"

Just before they could answer Jaune's scroll started to ring. Jaune pulled it out took a look at who was calling saw who it was and immediately gulped.

"Hello?" Jaune said tepidly.

"Jaune, where are you right now?" the voice on the other side of the scroll asked with a firm voice.

"Who is it?" Mori whispered.

"It's Pyrrha," Jaune whispered back, "she's asking where I am right now."

"Just tell her you're out," Sun responded back.

"I'm just out right now," Jaune said as he took Sun's advice.

"Out where?"

"Ohh just in the city you know, why?"

"I just have a few questions for you Jaune, more specifically what happened to our outside wall?"

"And where's Zwei!" another voice rang out from the scroll.

Jaune gulped as he realized that Ruby was there as well.

"Hey, Ruby Zwei is with us right now, don't worry he was a good boy and so today I decided I wanted to get him a treat."

"Jaune, you didn't answer my question of what happened to our room?"

"Oh, you know Pyrrha just…boy's stuff, hey I'll explain the rest later I need to help Neptune with his hair."

Jaune quickly hung up.

"You think that worked?" he asked the other two.

"Neptune does take a long time with his hair," Sun replied.

"Hopefully, you bought us some time," Mori said as he started to look through his pockets.

"Uhh, Mori,"

"Yes, Jaune?"

"Why are you looking through your pockets right now?"

"I'm trying to see if I can find anything maybe we can get a clue to see where we were last night."

Jaune thought that was a good idea so he started to look through his pockets as well, as he was searching, he found something that he realized he didn't have before.

It was a business card.

"What is it?" Sun asked.

"I don't know," Jaune replied, "It says Juniors."

"Well let's follow it," Mori said as he looked at the address, "It doesn't look like it's too far from here."

Jaune nodded as they made their way to the location on the car.

The first thing he noticed when he got there was that it looked like it was a club, and then he noticed the elephant in the room or in this case the hole in the wall.

"I think we may have been here last night," Sun commented.

"…Yeah," Jaune replied in a depressed tone.

The trio entered the club hoping to find their missing companions.

It was empty with just a large man wiping down a table.

"You!" the man screamed as soon as he noticed them.

" _Uh oh,"_ Jaune thought to himself.

"You guys have got a lot of nerve coming back here after what you did last night to my club!"

" _His club?"_ Jaune thought to himself, _"That must be Junior."_

"uhh, What did we do sir?" Jaune asked nervously.

"What did you do?" Junior repeated back angrily, "What did you do!? Only the craziest thing I have ever seen in my life, what kind of morons, people barge into a club with a Nevermore and introduce it as a pet?"

Mori put his head down in shame.

"Sorry about that sir," Jaune meekly replied.

"Oh, I want more than a sorry, especially after you can see what you guys caused last night!"

"I'm really sorry about what we did to your club last night sir," Jaune replied, "We'll reimburse you for the damages."

At that, the man snorted, "Look at money bags over here thinking he can reimburse me for the damages."

"How much is it?" Jaune nervously asked.

"Take a look kid." He replied as he threw Jaune a list.

The boy's eye bulged, as he saw the total.

"That is a lot of Zero's" Sun whistled.

"I don't think I 've seen that much money in my life," Jaune commented.

"No remember there's Weiss," Mori pointed out, "She's an heiress remember?"

"Oh yeah."

"Still think you can reimburse me, kid?" Junior asked as he folded his arms, "Because if you don't make up for what you guys did you are not seeing your two friends again!"

Jaune immediately caught the last part.

"Wait, friends?" He asked nervously, that must be Ren and Neptune!

"Yeah they came here after you knuckleheads finished destroying the place," Junior replied, "And unless you can pay me back, you aren't seeing them again!"

Just as Jaune was about to argue with Junior about how illegal that was he felt himself almost collapse onto the floor as a heavy atmosphere filled the room.

Junior on the other hand wasn't as lucky as the man was now on all fours trembling.

"You know sir," Mori coldly replied with a blank face, "I apologize for what we did but I don't like the fact that you are holding my friend's hostage."

It looked like the man was trying to reply but it seemed like he was struggling to form even words.

Uh oh, this was not good, Mori was seriously pissed. Even though Jaune was pissed as well that Ren was being held hostage it would be a bad idea if the situation escalated.

"Hey Mori, calm down, he has a point in that we did destroy his club so we do need to repay him," Jaune said as he tried to placate his friend's wrath, "Even though we can't pay him back with Lien, I'm sure there are other ways around that right sir?" Jaune asked as he turned to the trembling bar owner.

Jaune sighed in relief as it seemed like the man had enough bodily function and common sense to quickly nod yes.

That seemed to placate Mori as the atmosphere surrounding them was lifted.

"Remind me never to leave him with the bill again," Sun whispered to Jaune.

Jaune only nodded in agreement, pissing off Mori was very high on Jaune's do not do list.

"Man, you are a scary kid when you aren't drunk," Junior muttered as he got back up, "In hindsight maybe I shouldn't have messed with the kid that can tame a nevermore."

"So, what can we do to pay you back?" Jaune asked.

"Yes, what can we do to get our friends back sir?" Mori repeated coldly.

"G-g-give me a second to think about it," Junior said as he put his hand on his chin, "Ahh I have an important delivery but the delivery guy just called in sick, so if you can deliver that package I'll set your friends free and we'll be good to go!" He said as he clapped his hands.

" _Just a delivery?"_ Jaune thought to himself.

That shouldn't be too hard, he delivered the paper all the time in Ansel.

"Are you sure that's enough to pay you back?" Jaune asked dubiously, "That seems a bit easy,"

"Just make the delivery, promise me you'll never come back, and I'll give you your friends," Junior replied. "I'll just be happy to never see him again," He replied as he pointed to Mori.

Jaune nodded as he accepted Junior's terms.

This looked like it was going to be a lot easier than he had thought.

The easy delivery soon started to feel abnormal when one of Junior's men brought a suspicious-looking suitcase and told the trio where they had to deliver it to.

It was a shady part of town but with Mori around Jaune felt like he could go to the Grimmlands and still be safe.

Then Mori left saying he thought he caught a whiff of Zwei.

Jaune didn't mind it as much as it seemed like they had a lead on the dog.

When he and Sun got close to the location is when things started to really go off the rails.

Just as they were near the meeting spot a big group suddenly converged on the two and the leader angrily demanded they hand over what they had to them.]

Jaune obviously refused because he needed to safely deliver the package in order to get Ren back.

The group didn't take kindly to Jaunes refusal as they suddenly pulled guns on him.

Luckily he and Sun were able to react in time but unfortunately had become separated and they were each hiding behind walls trying to take cover fire waiting for their weapons to arrive.

" _When is that stupid locker getting here?"_ Jaune thought to himself _, "I really should take the initiative like Ruby and learn hand ot hand from Mori and Ren."_

A loud boom suddenly occurred next to Jaune.

"Weapons are here!" Sun chimed as he showed off his staff.

Jaune sighed in relief as he grabbed Crocea Mors, unsheathed it, activated the shield, and charged right into the group.

The gang stood no chance as he and Sun were able to make quick work of the thugs.

"Why did they want this package so much?" Sun asked as he finished knocking out a gang member.

"…I don't know," Jaune replied, "Whatever it is it must be super valuable."

"…I'm going to take a look," Sun said as he tried to take the package from Jaune.

"Wait no!" Jaune replied as he tried to stop Sun, it was to no avail as the monkey Faunus easily overpowered him.

"…holy crap," Sun said as he looked in the suitcase, "Jaune you need to take a look at this."

Jaune went over to the boy and his jaw dropped as he caught a look at what was inside.

It was drugs, a lot of them in fact, and they looked quite illegal.

"W-w-were we about to be drug dealers?" Sun nervously asked.

Jaune nodded as he realized that the club owner probably wasn't as clean as he initially thought.

"We need to talk to Junior," He replied with a serious tone.

**Present.**

When Jaune returned back to the club, it was a lot more packed than when he was there earlier. Too bad the new people didn't look like customers.

"I see you've returned," Junior said with a displeased look, "and you still have the package."

"Yeah, about that," Jaune angrily spat back, "We took a look at what we were delivering, and I don't believe this place is as reputable as it looks."

"Look kid, it was a simple deal you deliver the package you get your friends back."

"We would have never accepted if we knew were delivering drugs!" Jaune yelled back.

"So, I guess the deal is off," Junior said in a serious tone.

"I guess it is,"

"I guess you don't want to see your friends again,"

"I guess we'll just take them back by force." Jaune angrily replied.

At that Junior laughed.

"You two, against all my men?" Junior said as he spread his arms out, "You don't even have that scary kid with you and even if you did, I doubt you'd stand much of a chance."

Even though Jaune agreed that without Mori right now this fight looked hopeless, he didn't care.

He'd do whatever it took to save Ren and Neptune.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me!" Mori cried in frustration.

He thought he had found that damn corgi when he caught a whiff of it while doing the delivery, so Mori went to go chase after the dog.

The only thought on his mind as he was chasing after the smell was convincing himself to not trade in his tiger pelt for a corgi one.

He was very tempted to make the fashion switch when he finally caught up to his lead and found out what he was chasing after.

"It's just Neptune!" Mori cried out.

It turned out his "lead" was just Neptune in the back of a moving garbage truck wearing Zwei's collar…What the hell did they do last night?

"Just Neptune…Just Neptune!?" the Blue haired boy cried back, "I have been stuck in the back of this garbage truck all day and the first thing you say to me it's just Neptune?"

"Why do you have Zwei's collar on you?"

"I don't know! I just found it on me as I woke up!"

"Agghh!" Mori cried out with his hands in his hair.

He'd rather fight through the Gods' realm again than do this seemingly impossible task!

"You uhh you ok dude?" Neptune asked in concern.

"…I'm fine, I'm fine," Mori said as he tried to calm down, "Let's just go back to Juniors and meet up with Jaune and Sun, hopefully, they were able to finish their delivery and get Ren back."

"…What?"

"Just don't worry about it."

He'd worry about finding Zwei another time, he didn't trust that man Junior and based on the number of times Jaune had called him on his scroll, he had a feeling that their delivery was a lot more than it seemed.

His suspicions were proven correct when he got back to the club and it looked like Sun and Jaune were in the middle of a huge fight.

"Why are we back here!?" Neptune asked as his jaw dropped.

Mori looked over at Neptune with a questioning look.

"I was here with Yang when we were investigating the White Fang," Neptune explained, "Apparently the owner of this bar was connected with Roman Torchwick."

Ahh, everything was making sense now, from the threatening tone the man held towards them to the seedy delivery, with his connection to Torchwick, Junior was almost definitely part of the criminal underworld.

Now that he took a closer look at Junior's men, they did look familiar to the ones that Torchwick used the first time he met him.

Mori didn't know why but it seemed like trouble just seemed to be naturally attracted to him…or Jaune.

Only Jaune could find himself in the middle of a massive brawl.

Still though, despite the bad position the two blondes were in they were actually doing really well, for the most part, the grunts stood no chance against the two.

Sun was hacking and maneuvering with ease around the grunts, he currently had a good setup with Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang in their staff form, if the guards got too close he'd knock them out quickly with his superior staff skills too far, and for range, he'd use the gun part of it too blast opponents who were too far away from his reach.

The fact that Sun was doing well was no surprise, despite his laidback personality he really was quite strong, so strong in fact, Mori wouldn't be surprised if the boy won the Vytal tournament.

With a name like his, he'd better be strong.

Then there was Jaune, he was surrounded on all sides but he was in no danger, with his understanding of position and strategy combined with the combination of his aura and shield, he'd barely take any damage and with the technique, he had learned from Pyrrha once someone was within range of his sword it was good night.

Mori really was proud of Jaune for how well had been doing, it had been a month since the Breach, and Jaune had only grown exponentially, especially after the spar they had.

It wouldn't be long before Jaune would catch up to the others, everything was starting to slow down for him, and he was starting to be able to fight the way he wanted to.

Most of these guards were too weak to provide the two any sort of challenge, there were really only two on Junior's side who'd be any match to his friends.

They were twin girls who were standing next to him, from the outside they looked like they would belong in the red-light district, but Mori didn't judge a book by its cover, they were several tiers higher than the regular mooks that Junior had.

At first, they didn't look too interested in fighting but then Junior turned towards them and angrily asked if they were going to continue to do their nails or would they actually fight.

The twins shared an annoyed look before descending into the fight.

"Neptune, let's join," Mori said as he decided to join the fight now.

"You sure?" Neptune asked, "They look like they are doing fine."

Mori nodded as he jumped into the fray, Sun and Jaune would be fine against large numbers and they'd be fine against those two, one on one, they wouldn't be able to do both at once.

"I'll take that as a yes," Neptune sighed as he followed Mori into the fight.

In an instant, Mori unleashed his intent as he landed in the club.

All eyes in the fight were now on him and Neptune.

Mori could notice the twins look at him with interest while Junior could only pale at his sight.

"W-w-ha-" It seemed like he was trying to say something but it seemed like Mori's impression on the man had made him scared shitless.

Jaune on the other hand had the exact opposite reaction

"You're finally here!" He said as he let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry I'm late," Mori said with a grin, "But I'd like to join in on the fun."

"Man, you sure know how to make an entrance," Sun said as he got ready to fight one of the twins.

Mori could only smile at Sun's compliment, it was a topic that Ruby had begging him to teach her, how to make a dramatic entrance.

It was a good technique for lower-level opponents as it can throw people completely off guard, of course, a dramatic entrance was useless unless one pressed their advantage and that's what Mori did.

Immediately launching one of his kicks he began his cleanup of Junior's men.

Firing off renewal techniques Mori mowed down the grunts with precision and ease.

Keeping control of his power Mori used just enough to knock out his opponents.

To be honest these grunts were too easy for him and this fight wasn't that fun.

He would have rather taken on the twins at once, but he decided against it, as the experience would be good for Jaune and Sun.

Mori's earlier prediction of they would be fine was right as his two friends were doing well in their respective matchup.

It looked like this fight was going to wrap up soon, as the arrival of him and Neptune turned the fight from a brawl to a massacre in their favor.

After catching Sun land a knockout blow on the one in the red dress, Mori eyed Junior and began to make his way to the man.

"S-s-someone, stop him!" The man screamed in desperation.

His orders were useless as Mori went through the guards with the same amount of ease as walking across the schoolyard.

Soon Mori was in front of the criminal just as it looked like Jaune had landed a winning blow against the twin in the white dress.

"Back! Stay back!" Junior screamed as he stumbled onto the ground.

Mori ignored him as he made his way close him, crouched down, and looked Junior straight in the eyes.

"I think you know what I want," Mori said softly but firmly as he made his intentions clear, "So, give me my friends back."

The man nodded as he turned to one of his men and directed them to get the hostages.

Mori only nodded in satisfaction as he got up.

He couldn't help but notice the puddle that had formed between the crime lord's legs though.

"Man I am glad you are here, Mori" Jaune said as he sheathed Crocea Mors, "Were you able to find Zwei?" he asked hopefully.

"No, I just found Neptune,"

"Dangit Just Neptune?" Jaune asked disappointedly.

"Just Neptune!" The subject in question screamed, "Just Neptune! Do you know what I have been through today! Why am I always the one treated like the butt monkey!"

"Because that's usually me," Jaune replied as he turned to the blue-haired boy."

"I think that might be racist," Mori and Sun said in unison.

"Wait," Jaune said as it looked like he realized something "If Neptune's here who's the other friend with Ren?"

Mori was about to answer but then he realized he had no idea.

Their questions were soon answered as they brought the two "Friends" into the room.

"Who the hell is this?" Jaune screamed at Junior.

"These are your friends!" Junior explained, "They came after you left looking for a blonde-haired monkey Faunus."

It took a bit, but Mori began to recognize who the two were, after all, they were-

"Scarlett, Sage!" Sun shouted, "What are you guys doing here?"

Members of Sun's team SSSN.

"What are we doing here!?" the redhead known as Scarlett repeated angrily as he turned towards his partner "Get a load of this Sage, he's asking what are we doing here!"

"Looks like our great leader forgot about the 'invitation he gave us last night," Sage angrily replied as he turned towards his leader, "you sent us a text message, last night saying to join you guys and what do we get when we arrive but a destroyed club and an angry-looking man who threatened that if we didn't pay him back for ruining his club he wouldn't let us go!"

"I've needed to use the bathroom for three hours!" Scarlett whined.

"You could always do what Junior did and let mother nature take its course," Neptune quipped

The man in question didn't seem to enjoy the joke as he glared at him causing Neptune to meekly start to back away.

Mori in turn glared at Junior to back off and the man immediately paled and apologized.

"No! No! No!" Jaune screamed as he started to pull his hair, "These guys can't be it you've got have more right?" He begged as he grabbed Junior by the vest.

"Thanks for caring for us," Sage said with an annoyed look.

"Join the club," Neptune snarked

"Look, I don't know who the hell you are talking about but these guys are it," Junior said as he tried to shake off Jaune, "There's no one else!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Jaune cried, "You have to at least remember the Mistralian boy with us or at least a dog!"

"Yes, both in fact were with you but they left with you guys on that blasted Nevermore that destroyed my wall."

"Wait," Mori said as he caught something, "We left, on a Nevermore?"

Junior turned towards him, "Yeah you left flying on a Nevermore," He answered, "It was the craziest thing I had ever seen."

So that meant that both Ren and Zwei were with them for most of the night, if that was the case unless they both fell off they should be at Beacon, but that didn't make sense they weren't in the room…right?

Bits and pieces started to fall in Mori's head, as he realized there was one place they hadn't looked.

"…I think I know where to look," Mori said as he turned towards Jaune, "Follow me." He then started to make his way back to Beacon.

Jaune complied as he followed after him.

Sun also joined as he leaped to join the two.

"I'll see you guys later!" He shouted towards his team.

"Is he abandoning us again?" Scarlett asked in disbelief.

"…He is," Neptune said with a sigh.

Mori could only hope that he was correct as he barged his way onto the rooftop.

He soon let out a sigh of relief.

"They're here!" Jaune said happily.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sun complained.

It was Ren and Zwei, both knocked on top of the rooftop.

Mori could only internally slap himself in the face for not looking on top of the roof, it was the place he was at the most!

At the sound of noise Ren and Zwei, started to stir.

"Sun, Mori, Jaune," He said with a tired tone as he got up, "Why does my head hurt? What did we do last night?"

"Yes, I'd be very interested to know what you boys have been up to." A voice interrupted before any of the three could answer Ren's question.

The three boys gave a collective gulp as they turned around and realized the owner of the voice.

It was a Goodwitch who looked very unhappy.

Mori didn't know it but at that moment all three of them shared the same thought.

" _We are never doing a boy's night again."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, TMT here with another release, sorry for the inconsistent release times, work has just really ramped up and it looks like it'll be like that until end of April. Other than that I hope you guys have enjoyed the latest chapter and I will see you again with the next update.


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